Didoo

A new beginning

(OK, kinda melodramatic as a title, but I do not get a better metaphor)

This is the english translation of this post.

Today a lot of things happened in sequence (it’s not important which, I assure you) that put an end to a period of uncertainty, dissatisfaction, personal discomfort, which lasted for a while, and that was quite perceptible simply observing the growing number of rants (on the social networks I use) in which I let myself get taken.

I look at them, I rethink them, and I realise that somehow, one at a time, over the course of a single day, have unlocked something, they brought me to accept the idea of having to change.

Since this blog has always collected all the important moments of my life (which were important, I’ve always found or understood after) I try to jot down my thoughts.

Because basically a blog has the same function as what was once the diary: you write things firstly for yourself, to knock them out and in doing so, disassemble them, understand them, stop them and then move forward.

So, what I understood, today.

Community

The community of web-developers, front-end developers, developers typically – as well as I mean it – no longer exists. There is no more a sense of community with all its ethics and responsibilities and principles, which I knew and experienced firsthand many years ago. Today there are many communities, more or less large, more or less active, more or less engaged and active, more or less inclusive (or exclusive), but these communities are just the sum of many individuals, each with its own objectives (and his personal gain, in many cases). Great communities, lovely places. Full of wonderful people. But not that kind of community I knew long ago, and that led the software and the web to be what they are today. Software and web from which we all make profit and take advantage of (forgetting however how they were born).

Sticking to that idea of community, however, no longer makes sense. And live in this community, and relate to the other members using an out-of-date yardstick, I understood it was simply ridiculous.

So goodbye community. That kind of community that I have in mind. I don’t expect much from you, and don’t expect too much from me.

Change

I always thought that people can change. The world (at least the one around oneself) can change. I have always firmly believed that one can change people and things (and that each one of us can do it). Because if not, there would be no more hope: in better people, in a better world, basically in the future.

But today I have also understood that you can’t change people who do not want to be changed. It is a lost battle (not at the beginning, but in the long run) that leaves on the ground them and yourself.

Because in most cases nobody asked you anything, and you have embarked on a fight against windmills, which in most cases do want anything more than to be left alone (and among other things you’ve become a pain in the ass).

So goodbye “red cross” spirit. Always available if you need a hand or a shoulder: you know where to find me. But please, you call me, ok?

Happy

In all this story there is a happy ending. And is the fact that I decided to (re)start doing things that please me, that make me happy, that are useful to me. Not because “it’s fair doing them”, because they help someone, for a sense of duty or responsibility towards the team, the community, the IT industry, etc. etc.

Then welcome Sass, Web Performance, React. Welcome (back) to public speaking and, who knows, maybe even organize some event. Welcome to whatever I will want to do.

As long as it is for me.

And I say that not light-hearted, believe me. It’s been a long time that this thing was there, waiting to be settled: saying “as long as it is for me” is selfish? Well, I learned today that is the sensible thing to do, the best thing for me and for the others.

Hello everyone, see you around.


Update #1: then, thinking of it, does not take a genius to figure it out: the communities were once groups of people linked by the same passion, nowadays they are linked by the same job.

Update #2: this of mine seems to be an increasingly common sentiment, these days: https://tobiastom.name/articles/things-will-not-change (btw, the same one who wrote this, and I had mentioned here).

Update #3: I really ended up organising events :) now I am a member of the Advisory Board of Codemotion, a network of international tech-conferences across Europe.

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