When lines blur

For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by computers. They posed this gigantic puzzle to me. Think of all the fields that have been combined to form these magnificent machines: physics, electrical engineering, mathematics, linguistics, the arts. The list goes on and on. Needless to say, when we use computers, we often fail to realize how complex and how intricate these machines really happen to be. When you talk to people who work with computers for a living one of the first questions you ask to help orient you with their world is are you a hardware or a software person. Hardware people work with wires, motherboards, memory sticks, physical devices of all types. In short, they think in terms of things. On the other hand you have software people. They live in their heads. Software is really an abstraction which, at its most basic form, is little more than instructions. Software is used to allow people to control hardware. In my world, I tend to fall on the software side of things. I can struggle through a hardware issue, but, it is not my forte. Software comes much more naturally.

In either care, computers have been something with which I wanted to completely absorb myself. My hope was to find one area of computer technology I really liked and to dig in, to truly become an expert. As I worked my way through the field exploring different areas I would say my ultimate goal kept shifting. It really reflected, more than anything, what I thought I would look like if I ever "made" it in the field of computers. For some time it was a series of certificates that eluded me. I tried studying for a variety of certs, but, always made it much more complicated than it needed to be and never really got any. Do I regret it? A little. Yeah. But, in the end, not having the cert doesn't make me less of a father or husband or even employee. It just represents one more thing I wanted to become that escaped me. I guess it's a reminder of what I wanted to be but never could accomplish. A mark of failure, so to speak, instead of a mark of honor. In fact, the longer I stay in IT the less qualified I feel to work in it. I guess that comes with anything though.

I can't say exactly when, but, I have noticed, in the past couple of weeks I have noticed, I just don't care about computers anymore. Not like I used to. I was obsessed with them. It would come and go in waves, but, at my worst, I really was more interested in these things than I should have been. These days, however, I have all the time in the world, and, the last thing I want to do it work on a PC. I had been really excited about the opportunity to finish a book I was working on for PowerShell as well as some user group stuff. My health, as it slowly declines, simply does not seem to want to let me go there. PowerShell was the "thing" I had ultimately set my focus on. Yet, now that I have time to really make a leap for it I really don't seem to care. It's kind of disappointing to find yourself in that position. Most people would probably think, "If I could spend all day doing what I wanted I would _________________". For me, it would have had something to do with computers...at least in the past decade. And now I find myself listless, indifferent, and, really lacking the passion I had for this thing I once found so fascinating.

Though I wish there was something profound I could tease out of this circumstance, I guess the blaze nature of it, the listless, unimpressed nature of the whole thing is in fact that outstanding characteristic. For once, I am not spellbound by this thing, or, for that matter, by much of anything. My dad and I were talking today about my search for direction. Right now, I really have none. Without work, I am not really sure who I am or what I am supposed to be doing. My dad really suggests I just be listening to God to hear what it is he wants me doing. Lately, it is a lack of purpose, which in the past few months/years was this computer jag, that highlights my walk. Yet, there have been a lot of odd events going on that tell me God's trying to repurpose me, to give me new direction. As it is, I am completely blind to what I am supposed to be doing, but, hopefully God will show me what it is I need to see. The past few weeks have been crazy busy and I couldn't have seen a neon sign two inches in front of my face had a tried. Now, I have a couple of days to stop, catch my breath, focus and listen for whatever it is He really has in mind. If you are praying, please ask that He would give me clear direction, focus and purpose. What it was is not what it now is. There are a LOT of signs things are changing. Seeing what the changes are is the next step.