or: From the Light into the Darkness

I was made redundant just before Christmas 2016. As I already had a holiday to Australia & New Zealand booked, I decided not to rush into finding a new job. Once on the other side of the world, it became clear to me that I was deeply, deeply unhappy with myself and my career. Self-loathing turned up to 11. I suppose you could call it a sort of mid-life crisis.

I’ve tried to keep myself busy over the past 9 months, with varying degrees of success, but what I have done, is re-discover myself, my sense of self and – most importantly – my love of writing software. Pretty useful when you’re a software engineer.

As well as putting myself under the microscope (not easy, even after I found one big enough…), I’ve opened my eyes to the world around me. I’ve opened my eyes and recoiled in horror – but they’re still open and now that they are, I’m clear about what I want for myself, what I want to achieve professionally and what I need to do as a human being.

It’s time to leave the ComfortZone™, pick-up my sword and my shield and go, boldly, into the darkness.

Or, to quote Austin Powers: “I’m back, baby! Yeah!”