I started working with IT in 2001, but long before that, I was passionate about the possibilities, using an old MSX connected to a TV to code stupid things, and later helping my sister with her college degree, writing and debugging Delphi programs.
As anyone who started low at the beginning of the century, it was just trivial work: fix the printer, can’t access the network, where’s the “any” key, can you replace my mouse, etc. But again, I was passionate about tech. Every spare time I got was spent studying Linux and Open Source and applying it to my work. Later on, most of the IT department processes were running via bash and cron.
But I was still loved everything about tech and the future. In 2006 Social Media started blooming, and CMSs were the new thing. So I mastered WordPress, and in a few months, I got hired by a media agency and moved to a new city.
And, oh boy, I did things since then:
worked for a bunch of big companies, directly or indirectly;
lectured on huge events like Campus Parties;
wrote for respected tech blogs in Brazil;
which led me to interview Linus Torvalds (actually, let me rephrase it: I cried in front of Linus Torvalds);
This is the abridged version, as I don’t plan to paste a resume here – And I was always passionate about the future and how tech was changing it. I felt like being part of it, creating things with it.
Until 2018, when a series of unfortunate events led me to a little mental breakdown.
It took time to recover. Burnout, depression, anxiety. The pandemic hit and I’m not saying it was something good, but at least I could work from home, which helped me a lot. And I had time to do things for me, not for others. Learn/advance in new languages, create my projects, etc.
But the passion is… gone. Even with AI and the world of possibilities it offers, I just look at it and… meh? “Do I still want to do it? For whom? For what reason? Is money the only reason I code?”
My first post here may look like a huge rant and in fact, it is 🤷🏽♂️ – but after more than 20 years solving problems in tech, the feel of “OK, what now?” just can’t pass.
So, I’m asking thousands of other people who love tech: what now? 😛
