I've decided to write this article because I hope it addresses some thoughts that others might well feel within themselves. Can I solve them? Probably not. I can elaborate as an elder millennial a relaxation of my opinions as time goes by.
In the last 20+ years of being a worker (not always in computing, but mostly) I've kept personal and professional fairly distinct. My family didn't really know what I do, nor did I tell them or my friends what I did. This worked particularly well for the first half of that time I wasn't interested in explaining it and there was no real interest in understanding it. Technology was and has been pervasive, but not obvious, which is how we've ended up in a poor situation societally.
Things changed when I left industry and was lucky enough to spend time being a sysadmin / data manager (a term new to me) in Antarctica (link is to the photo posts). I had been a keen follower of science generally, but not knowledgeably, for most of my life. Then I started to understand and contribute to the environmental sciences. I became passionate about continuing.
Since then I've continued with this role. [It's grown]. I manage a team and have a life I love living that is mixed with technology. Why? Because I am passionate about the work that I do but open to other experiences around me. That's extremely lucky. It's also a benefit of a change from working for others and now working for my own motivations.
The important thing now is that I want to talk and write about what I do, but I really don't want to be serious about it. I really dislike being serious. When I'm forced to do it, it's worse for everyone involved.
But I do want to communicate.
There are serious issues around for sure. If I'm to blog about what I do, then for sure it's important to do it in a way enjoyable to read. It's important to think about communicating with others for the joy of creatively communicating, if nothing else. I haven't worked that out yet, but the point of writing this is that it might persuade others in a similar position, finding a job and life they are content with, to change a culture of silence within themselves.
One reason I feel really happy about doing this, is that I've gone to the trouble of provisioning the site and associated services on my own server. This is a great learning experience and I at least know that the motivation is just to leave a record of a discourse worth having. I know that I don't have to rely on or care about SEO or platform competitiveness or any of that, this is just about content and (admittedly) self-satisfaction.
Let's see if I can find something more interesting to say about my role next time. Because it's exciting, especially given we're set to build environmental digital research infrastructure that is innovative and, hopefully, forward thinking.
Comments
Please do leave a comment. I'm moderating them manually for the moment and the Isso project I'm finding slightly experimental, but AMAZING nonetheless. I won't reset the comments database now though, so feedback will be valued!