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.