Finding The Undiscovered Country

While talking to a close friend online earlier, I caught myself thinking about building “something” on the internet. I stopped myself in my own tracks (now there’s a recursive idea). Until fairly recently I filled my days with software development, and my evenings with freelance web design and development. I worked for clients all over the world on web projects “ San Francisco, Oklahoma, London, Manchester, Florida, Texas you name it. The end result of those couple of years was the comment I got at work when a colleague left a couple of weeks ago “ “you’re the most talented web developer I’ve ever worked with”. Something to be proud of. It doesn’t tell the whole story though. I spent the best part of two years never going out on an evening, or a weekend. I pretty much broke contact with all real-world friends during that time, and have still not re-built those bridges. I lost count of the times I found myself walking into town past 9 at night to buy something to take home and cook for dinner. Towards the end I longed to have more time to myself. Time to spend with the children, with my other half, and myself! This is where it got stupid. I started reading productivity books, became an advocate of making lists, and tried all manner of madcap schemes to make me more organised. At no point did I consider just not doing it any more. And then one day, I woke up. Smelled the coffee. Call it what you want. I ended the various web development projects I was working on, and effectively shut up shop. Free time was the weirdest thing to suddently have. Once the children were in bed on an evening, I suddenly found myself at a loose end. What to do? Read a book? Play a board game? Watch a movie? Invariably I found myself seeking out new friends online “ similar souls seeking escape from busy lives, reaching out across the internet to find each other. And I found them. You are all brilliant. The stories and photos of the lives you share inspire and enthrall me. I now look forward to “my time” late on an evening to catch up with you all “ to find out what you have been doing, and to share my day with you too.