Seven Months of Silence and the Space to Think

My last post was about how, after years, I was coming back to Hive to find a little bit of meaning when it disappears in working for an employer, and how I was just about to dive into that magical atmosphere of publishing once again... That post was 7 months ago.

What can I say? It turned out that on the other side of the fence there were plenty of other interesting things to do, and it's actually quite nice to be in a position where you receive a salary without the need for a constant career race.

A lot happened during these 7 months. A lot of things worth thinking about, worth sharing, and worth hearing other people's opinions on.

I'm not saying these were 7 months of transcendence and revelations. Rather, they were 7 months of peace and reflection laid on top of my 37 years of life, combined with various events that change the meaning of different aspects of life.

I simply had some space to think.

About career: I no longer believe in career ladders. For the first time in my life, I didn't get an offer because of being overqualified. A mixed feeling. I used to dream of escaping enterprise and joining a startup, but now I want to work for an even bigger enterprise. I stopped suffering from impostor syndrome and almost stopped feeling guilty about doing nothing at work and watching time slip away.

About health:

If you're 35+, just one year of intense sedentary work is enough to ruin what took years to build. I quit smoking in a single day, even though I couldn't do it for 15 years. Now I know a thing or two about healthy and unhealthy food, and for some reason many things no longer taste good.

About family and home:

The only thing that hasn't changed and remains a reliable foundation through every storm. Make more children. The hardest thing is raising a human being. Is it really worth spending a huge amount of money on buying real estate?

About life and happiness:

If I could, I would spend entire days walking through the world with the people I love and wouldn't suffer for a single minute from a lack of self-realization... Or maybe I would.

It seems I have quite a few things to share. Not as a guide. Not as a collection of advice. And certainly not as an attempt to teach anyone anything. Rather, as an honest attempt to document my own experience and make sense of what I have come to understand over the past few years.

And then, ten years from now, read it all again and laugh at my own "wisdom."