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Enjoying the process

Geeks like me keep fond memories of their first contact with a computer, and I was delighted when I discovered a web site dedicated to collecting such stories: “How I Met Your Motherboard” (link).

Of all stories collected there, I found the ones that do not end up well to be the most interesting, like the story told by Daisy Carrington: “It only took a C-” (link).

He never liked writing. I had more memories of him tinkering with his computer than I did of his making up stories. And it made me realize why he was nervous of me writing; he had discovered too late that it wasn’t his passion. That, in fact, he didn’t even like it. He wanted to spare me the same disappointment. Just as I preferred the idea of a completed programmed to the process of making it come to be, he preferred the idea of a finished script to the actual process of creating it.

I guess psychologists have a name for this, but I have no idea what that is.

Sometimes we feel attracted to doing something by love of the result, but if we do not enjoy the process itself the result will usually be sub-par and disappointing, if reached at all. So let’s take a critical look at our goals, and let’s think about the process and not only to outcome, to ensure we enjoy both and do not focus on the wrong one (link).

I don’t think I would enjoy writing a book, but I would love to have written one.