I spent forty years in the software industry “making stuff” albeit virtual stuff that only existed inside a computer. I really enjoyed the magic of that, especially in the beginning. It was just really satisfying to create something that solved problems for, educated, or entertained other people. I would regularly get into a groove when I was coding where the outside world receded and I was just happily occupied with what I was making and the flow of solving all the various problems that came up as I went. It was very much a joyful and rewarding state of mind, literally the “Flow State” described in psychology. I think it was the reason I came back to being an individual contributor over and over again once I’d made the transition to management. I missed that feeling and the constant interrupt driven nature of management just didn’t deliver it. At least I never figured out how to achieve it as a manager.
When I retired, some of the first projects I did were personal software projects that I’d been meaning to clean up and make useful for other people ( y’know with tests and shit ). I had several really nice months doing those projects and getting them into a good state. At the same time I started to explore making other non-virtual things primarily through wood working. I have always been a huge fan of wood workers, blacksmiths, machinists, and mechanics. I loved watching “This Old House”, “The Woodwright’s Shop”, “The New Yankee Workshop” since I was a kid. Now that I’m retired I follow a lot of makers on YouTube like “ABOM79”, “Wintergatan”,”Simone Giertz”,”Laura Kampf”, and “Jimmy Diresta” to name a few.
Even with the first few projects that I did I would almost instantly enter that Flow State again and hours would pass and I’d look up happy and calm and be surprised that I was late for lunch or that it was dinner time. I’ve gravitated more and more towards wood working projects because I’m learning so much with each project it feels like the early days of being a programmer. It’s like magic when I design something and then build it and it comes out the way I imagined it. And unlike software, the objects I create exist outside a computer and can have a life completely independent of me.
Another cool thing about wood working is that it really doesn’t have any emotional baggage for me. Where coding is also very engaging and satisfying, it reminds me of all of the ups and downs of my career. Not so with wood working, it is literally like a dream come true. The last five years or so of my career I would go for a walk every morning and one of the recurring “visualizations” I would meditate on was one where I would build a shop and make stuff, using all of the stuff that I’d seen on television since I was a child. Well, that’s what I’m doing.
I understand what a cliche I am: “Old affluent white dude takes up wood working.” All I can say is that I come to it honestly through a long line of ancestors who built stuff crude and fine down through the ages. I appreciate the amazing gift of time and resources that allows me to do it now. I do my best to give back through other channels to help other folks get what they want out of life too. I’d also note that I don’t have a fancy top of the line shop, I have a small basement and garage and decent hobbyist tools, and that’s how I like it. I want to let the shop and the tools evolve with my projects, or not. I’m in it for the experience of building the things, not as a collector of high end equipment.
Nothing that I make is flawless, some of my earliest projects have some quite significant flaws, but we’re still using them and the flaws are part of their story. I’m getting better, I make different mistakes now, and the flaws that I see are smaller. Fortunately a career of delivering software which regularly shipped with thousands of minor defects taught me to be philosophical about defects and the value of iterative improvement.
I just wanted to share a few thoughts and feelings about this for what it’s worth.
Cheers,
James