Post #806572

2026-03-26 22:21 UTC

&#39;Separate your identity from your projects. Find people who see you when you&#39;re not shipping. Get a doctor who understands that &quot;I&#39;ve been incredibly productive lately&quot; is sometimes a symptom, not a success story. Build a life that doesn&#39;t depend on the community&#39;s approval to feel real.&#39; https://kennethreitz.org/essays/2026-03-18-open_source_gave_me_everything_until_i_had_nothing_left_to_give I am very glad to hear that Kenneth is doing better now, and have so much respect for his decision to write this post. In the end, people are always more important than code - always.

Replies (1)

@xameer@mathstodon.xyz 2026-03-27 01:07

@shauna @yojimbo > The pressure came from the fact that I had welded my sense of self to the project's success, and anything that threatened the project threatened me. A rude issue comment wasn't just feedback about code. It was someone questioning whether I deserved to exist in the space I'd carved out Happy for you , very honest ! but the fact remains, that for finding a job you have to attach your identity to your work ( the prerequisite for proof of skills, esp for a dropout or even someone with low grades ) When you get one (job) it doesn't go away it comes in different names , policies, market conditions, management decisions, office politics , peer pressures , market fit, culture fit, local/remote social life , future security, ...

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