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De-cluttering One's Mind & Life

It can be hard to see the trees when you are in the middle of a forest.  I've always been a busy person.  My wife claims I do more in the first few hours of the day than most people do all day.  I like to keep up to date and track what is occurring in my field.

But this has a down side for software engineering.  There is so much to be aware of, so many changes, so much hype and distractions that it's easy to loose focus of just the important things.

In Buddhism there is a sutra about how the land is on fire, the sky is on fire, the world is on fire,....  Not literal fire but "stuff" all around us that distracts, deflects, misleads and the like.  The Internet and Mobile just ramped the fire up to 11.

Imagine just stopping for a bit (I mean really stopping, not just a vacation) and clearing it all away?  What would it be like?

I've kind of done just that.

I moved 2,000 miles from my home of 30 years, I've quit my high paying job of 13 years and stopped.  I don't suggest others do this unless they want to and can.  I did and can, so I did.

I had plans of my own and there always appears to be a reason for staying on whatever course you are on.  It's very very (just to stress the point) very hard to change almost every about one's life (voluntary wise).



Now looking back, there is so much clutter in software development that it amazes me that anything ever gets done.  There is so many factors that pull and push decisions and inertia that keeps everything in it's ruts.  It's a crazy field.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the technical aspects, the capabilities, the solutions and implementations.    But when the development struggle collapses and all that is left is process, delays, meetings, non-decisions, biases and conflict without end, only those that seek control, chaos and a pay check remain.  So I joined the early list of people that repel agains the "fire" and left.

I left the clutter behind and charted my own path.

In Buddhism, we are the creation of most of our own pain and suffering.   But it's up to you what you do about it.  I've made my change.

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