It’s been just over one year now since I went on sabbatical, and I wanted to write some sort of “Year One” update post. But what I didn’t want to happen was for me to get stuck making something Serious or Formal in order to Properly celebrate the milestone. So here I am, writing something quick and loose so I can just get something out into the world.

A quick summary of my one year on sabbatical:

• Quit my job of 7y cus I was burnt out
• Wanted to get working on side hustles ASAP
• Realized I wasn’t allowing myself to have fun, or do anything I didn’t view as “productive”
• Realized this came from me wanting external validation for being productive, and wanting to be seen as Good
• Reconnected with my sense of Fun, and only did projects I found Fun for a while
• Realized I wanted my next job to be The Thing that will fulfill me (spoiler: that’s not how it works)
• Realized I did not like myself → I wanted to fix this
• Rebuilt my connection to Fun, and my started building a new sense of self-love
• Realized I kinda need to relearn how to be happy, in the unique ways I need
• Found affinity with the concept of puruṣārtha, especially dharma and moksha
• Reached my current motto: Nurture your harmony. Take care of yourself. Build what you enjoy building, and eventually do it in community.

Next up: try to create a job for myself where I can do ^ and also help others.

Extended rambles

(1) A reminder to make time for yourself. I am very thankful that I had the means to go on a break for this long and continue on this break. All this time and space was, I think, necessary for my inclination to dig to take hold and make such meaningful progress. The more space I seem to have, the more I dig, and the more I build.

(2) As for the long term, so far the concept of puruṣārtha has been very resonant and attractive as, to use video game lingo, a possible late-game build. This video is what first put me onto the idea, if you want to learn more.

(3) Have I recovered from my burnout? Idk. When I think of going back to a software eng job I still get the heebie jeebies, just a little bit. But I could probably go back now and do it sustainably by keeping true to my updated values. I’m also still making things and trying to craft a bespoke life for myself that eventually includes making money again (maybe as soon as a couple months from now), which to me is a sign of someone who is at least on the up-and-up. We’ll see though.