A Maker's High

"Much of the "maker movement" is a form of self-expression, about the joy of producing something." — Chris Csikszentmihalyi

Productivity is evolutionarily advantageous. Our brain rewards problem solving and achievement with chemicals. What’s the last thing you built when you got that rush? You know the high I talk about. It's staring at something you created because you decided it must exist. Is there a Twitter feed full of postings or a Facebook Like that account for the same feeling? Of course not. In abundance, these updates and bits of information give micro-highs. But the real treat is bringing a new thing into this world.

I'm hooked.

Ever since I made the console print "Hello World," I have been in a deep and sultry relationship with coding. Late-nights with a luminescent Apple logo and LED screen brightening my face. Those moments of smashing bugs are accompanied by fist-pumps, stomping feet and cranking up the music. Victory is sweet because the process can be so taxing. Critiquing your logic, hunting for quick hacks and refreshing StackOverflow pages as if the answer will divine itself. And eventually, the cracks reveal themselves. We break down the problem into more miniscule issues that can be grappled with. Building experiences for a user is the end-goal, but in developing, we write our own story.

Read Mr. Csikszentmihalyi's Sixteen Reflective Bits here.