An Engineer’s Search For Meaning
This is what happens after accomplishing what you wanted
June 23, 2023. My flight is canceled and I have to travel to Rome to take another one. I am alone, and this is my first time in Rome. I rush to see the Colosseum, it’s 10 pm.
While I’m there, contemplating the glory of the structure, I sit down and start thinking about my life.
All I feel is profound grief.
I’m having a good life as a software engineer, and I feel I accomplished everything I ever wanted.
I’ve given lectures, I’ve had deep relationships, I became a senior software engineer, I’ve danced a lot, and I have lots of friends.
I experienced everything I wanted, at least in sample bottle size. And that led me to a profound and scary void in my heart.
The series of events that followed this realization led me to the most productive times of my life. I turned that feeling into a month of pure growth: 350 new followers on X, 120 new email subscribers, 60,000 tweet impressions, and an interview.