I've been programming since 1977. I have used programming as part of my professional life as an IT Support Technician since 1985 and since 2006 as a full-time software developer. In the last couple of days I've been posting items about the programming languages I use or have used.
I find myself wrestling with a compulsion to write, to go flat out and post a write-up about every language I've ever known replete with links to the current implementation and anything else helpful I can think of. I actually don't have the time to do that but I'd almost happily give up food and sleep just for the endorphin rush of researching and writing. I remember having similar experiences when I was running my own programming-related blog. (Nothing much happens there now because I'm writing straight into DEV.)
At the same time, there's the desire to pace things out a bit. I have to ask myself, "What's better: 52 articles at one per week and still be sane and productive at the end of a year, or one per hour and be institutionalized before the end of the week?"
Someone once said, "it's better to burn out than rust out." With my 60th birthday 15 months away I'm wondering if there's a third alternative. My mind keeps coming back to the account in the book of Exodus where Moses sees a bush that is burning but the bush isn't being consumed by the fire. It's in Exodus 3:2. The Latin motto of many Presbyterian churches throughout the world (including Australia) refers to that event in the words NEC TAMEN CONSUMEBATUR meaning "And yet it was not consumed". Can I too burn but not burn out?
I'm probably stuck with having to continue to wrestle, but I am going keep trying to pace myself.
To the other content creators on DEV: how to do you keep yourself from going bananas yet keep a consistent amount of content flowing? How do you keep the fire of the passion of your craft from burning you up? How do you deal with the push from the other direction that slows you down toward inactivity and oxidization?
Top comments (1)
Well done sir 🙏