11–20 of 351 posts
I can relate somewhat, after having a child at a young age (22). My son makes me feel more full of life than I ever felt before, when I really had nothing and nobody to take care of besides myself. It sounds like the OP is way ahead of me though.
I do love this story though. I'm glad it's working out. It must have been tough to make that huge change, with kids and everything. Good luck.
I wonder how many people here will feel uncomfortable after reading this. I wonder how many will realize this man pursued aspects of life that they've been fantasizing about or putting of for "later." I can relate somewhat, after having a child at a young age (22). My son makes me feel more full of life than I ever felt before, when I really had nothing and nobody to take care of besides myself. It sounds like the OP…
I've seen these before - someone leaves it all for the simple life. This is the first time I've seen the added benefit of being able to spend a lot more time with family. To me, that's one of the most compelling reasons to do something like this.
I think it takes courage (and a bit of risk) to completely shift the course of your career, especially while you have a family to support. I will be curious to hear if he sticks with it long term, but to me, it sounds like he never was designed to be a programmer.
To be a programmer, it takes someone that doesn't mind being behind a computer for a good part of the day (even if you're able to take a break to get some fresh air on occasion). Otherwise, it will have the effect it seems to have had on the OP, and ultimately leave you wishing for something else.
And that's completely cool -- those people should find what drives them.
But it's also completely cool if you're designed to enjoy programming. And I think you can still do this and, at the same time, make sure you're doing other things to bring a smile to your face (in addition to programming), like spending time with family and friends.
I think you need to be passionate about the code you write. I worked for a company out of college that I despised. I was there for 3 years and was extremely miserable. It was indeed soul sucking. I moved out of state, to a new company working on software in a totally different market and it's been very enjoyable. I love being outside, but I also love programming and wouldn't chose any other career over it. I do love…
Thank you very much for the well wishes!
It's funny to see this stuff go full-circle. My parents left the city in the early 90's to move to a small WI farm in the middle of nowhere (15min to get to a town of 5000 people). I can see the appeal of a simpler life. But the funny thing is, as a kid, I hated it. My parents got tired of the suburbs, I longed for it. They longed for simplicity, I longed for convenience. I hated the idea of having to drive long dist…
Is the 19th century Industrial revolution just an illusion, the factories, the cars, the towns, the wars just a view of the spirit, and the little birds singing in the trees the real world ?
Is the current (electronic?) revolution an illusion, just a bait for digital addicts, a virtual world that drags us away from our real world ?
I think it's quit the opposite. I think the real world is this huge uncontrollable human growth on the branch its standing on.
Don't get me wrong, I was raised in the countryside and my entire soul is deeply bonded to the forest, and the animals and insects living in it. But don't call it the real world. Rather something like the fading world. And we need all the talent and imagination behind computers (or in labs), where we can have true impact on things and save it.
Going back to it is the true illusion...