Okay, full disclosure. I'm not quitting, I'm starting this project on the side. I know I'm very privileged to consider this mentality, and this may come off arrogant and rant-like, so I apologize.
Background:
I've been coding professionally for the past 10 years, and consider myself ambitious. Since my very first job, I was coding on the side. Making little projects and dreaming that they would have legs. Like most of these dreams, it just never really worked out for many reasons.
I feel like the 'tech growth' culture can be a little much, and almost toxic at times. I've been subject to this. There are always a million books you probably should be learning, projects you should be starting, languages you should read up on, frameworks to experiment in, blog posts you should be writing, StackOverflow questions to participate in, etc. I'm not saying these aren't good things to do, but there has be a balance struck. There also needs to be perspective. You could argue that this is the rat race. There will never be an end to new languages, code, patterns, and honestly never an end to promotions, money, and respect among the tech community. You can chase it until your dying day, honestly. This ambition has gotten me more money and challenges and work than I could have ever imagined.
However, I think I need a breather.
Turning point:
My kids love art, and I love drawing silly pictures with them and talking to them about art I used to do in high school and college. Over the course of the past 6 months or so, I've realized how much I missed it. If you want to teach your kids what's important, then you have to live it and show it.
I also honestly think that my career will not hurt because of this. Since I've started, I've been sharper and more excited to code when the time comes. I have new energy during my day job AND I am excited to do a hobby on the weekend!
Redirecting energy:
All that ambition and thirst for growth, I'm going to redirect to trying something completely different. I'm no longer going to try and code outside of work hours. I'm still going to do my job fully. I'm just going to try not to do coding challenges, "catch up" on the latest tech, or sniff out bigger and better jobs. For at least a little while.
Now that I've started this youtube channel, I'm going to spend my extra energy and time learning how to do proper graffiti and street art. And film my progress.
Business Goals:
Now, I've started this with the heart of just bringing art back into my life. However, I can't help but dream. My first dream is that I am able to have my art sustain itself and I'm able to buy supplies and paint from revenue coming in. Here are all the ideas for bringing money in:
This is longer than I anticipated, but thank you for listening and I'm very open to any advice or thoughts or feedback. I'm happy to be a part of the community!
Here is my channel for those interested:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSw4HT6MjYtSEwD0OtP1iLg
This comment was deleted 5 years ago
YES, this is great! I'm actually doing a version of this soon. I'm introducing a "Artist Inspirations series" where I'm going to try and interview and do a deep dive on the greats in the field and also attempt their style with my own piece. I think it's win win.