Seen on Paul Graham’s groupthink incubator:
I’ve been out of high school for almost 12 years. And I’ve never had a job I really loved.
I’ve never felt content or joy at work, which I think is normal, but I also think some other people enjoy their work.
This guy’s worried about being 30 and not having found meaningful work in which he can find joy? I know what that’s like.
My father died at 63 and I’m not convinced he ever found such work, though I suppose cross-country trucking was close enough. I’m over 40, have been working in software development for over 20 years, and I’ve never found it meaningful because working in the tech industry is just one exercise in building cathedrals atop quicksand after another. My work as a developer never sparked joy, and the only reason I didn’t KonMari that crap into the Kuiper Belt was that I needed the money.
I’ll be honest here: if being a supermarket janitor paid as well as being a developer at a large consultancy firm that I won’t name, I’d go back to cleaning toilets in a heartbeat. Software is never really done, especially in an “agile” shop, but least I can tell when the toilet’s clean.
It’s not a career. It’s a day job
So, how do I deal with the fact that my day job doesn’t fulfill me or bring meaning to my life?
Well, I used to find meaning in my writing. I’d still be doing that if I wasn’t mourning my father and dealing with my mother’s tendency to go from zero to Karen in 0.5 seconds. I have a wife who still seems to enjoy my company, not to mention two cats and a dog who need me.
I’m not one of those people who live to work. I work to live. My job is just a means to an end, and I fervently believe that this is the way it should be. What’s the alternative? I could start my own business if I thought I could afford to take the risk, or I could make further enriching the already rich my life’s purpose.
Neither option appeals to me, and I suspect it doesn’t appeal to holycrapguys. I doubt he’ll see this, though. Not my problem since Paul Graham isn’t paying me to post on his site.