I've written code practically every day for 40 years, some of it for livelihood, but mostly because it gave me immense joy. I don't have much public codebases to show for it; I wrote code like an artist doodles in their spare time.
But lately, I am feeling lost. I find that this impulse to learn new things and write code has completely vanished with the new AI LLM regime. Things that I strove to learn and build slowly can be accomplished with ease. It is very possible that my aims were very modest and that my skills were ripe for getting automated.
I'd like to get out of this lull, but I simply can't find the motivation to dig into agentic AI and churn out stuff, like an old-school woodworker told to learn CAD and let the machine handle the nitty gritty.
Of course, I can continue to do what I used to do earlier, since I am neither interested in money nor fame. But one thing that I _think_ I had at the back of my mind in my earlier life was to internalize tiny 'katas' (patterns) and form insights that I imagined I could teach to someone. I find that I can no longer imagine that "someone", since everyone I meet is more interested in AI delivering the end product rather than going through the process and paying their dues.
Apologies for the rambling, and grateful in advance for suggestions.
