Look to the Slow Things
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Tue Nov 19 14:03:24 CET 2024

Working in tech can be intoxicating.
The dizzying speed at which things
change.  New changelogs weekly, feature
releases to excitedly try, security
updates to monitor. Internet drama
with strong personalities and endless
arguments and strongly held opinions.

I used to love it wholeheartedly. I
became one with the culture.  I thought
Free Software was my life's calling,
one of societies biggest issues.

These days, I'm not so sure.  Yes, I
still believe we'd be better off if
all code was free (as in freedom).
But there's so much more to worry
about: climate, healthcare & reproductive
rights, even democracy as we know it.

It's been a crazy news cycle this
month.  Exhausting in its own way.
And my anxieties for the future are
more real than ever with a newborn.
He'll have to live with our actions
now; and thats terrifying.

In trying to cope with that, one
possibility was to re-embrace tech.
To bury my head in the familiar news
cycle. So removed from the physical
world.

But lately, I've come to appreciate
a more fulfilling place to focus my
(currently limited) energy: embracing
the Slow Things.

Things like finding out the names of
the trees in my back yard. Learning
how to plant garlic, put my garden
beds to rest, and effectively compost.
How to bake bread. How to raise a
child.

These things don't change every week.
There's no dopamine hit I can get
refreshing a web page to see "the
latest".

But they feel more _human_. They
connect me to past generations in a
way tech never can. I can talk to my
grandfather about our gardens, but
he'll never fully understand the
intricacies of email. Let alone why
a columnar database is faster for
certain access patterns.

I'm by no means giving up tech; I
still love to program. To solve little
logic puzzles and build a system of
my own design. I'm not giving up the
free software (and free culture)
vision, either.

But I think right now what we need
above all is a feeling of unity.
Connection. Empathy for not
just each other but Mother Earth.

Looking to the Slow Things has
given me that. Or begun to, at least.