Shedding skin is a topic well known and dear to me, ever since I started regular Kendo practice. I lost track of the times that I have been forced to cut away dead skin on my left foot or left hand, but that is not what I am here to discuss.
Shedding skin is about me leaving the black and white world, and getting out into the gray.
Until sometime in the year 2002, I was a very black and white person. This was not a bad thing mind you, in fact it allowed me to focus strongly on that which I have up till now considered my main profession. Computers.
During 8th and 9th grades, I focused strongly on computers. Whether my computer skill a result of some freak genetic talent, or if it is just a result of 10 years of dedication to computers, we shall never know, but I digress. During my high school years, I focused strongly on programming and other fun aspects of computers which were not related to games or OS maintenance.
I did this at the expense of any kind of social life (and I am sure my teachers would be the first to say that my school work suffered quite a bit hehe), and aside from a my fellow geeks, I had no other friends.
I don’t really see that as a negative thing, mostly just setting up the background for what is to come.
As time passed, I got a job as a programmer, got an apartment, a girlfriend, a few cars, and less and less computers.
In 2001, when I moved into my current apartment, I had 2 servers, 2 normal PCs with a 19″ and 21″ screens, a laptop, and a few other fun toys.
As time went on, the number of servers, computers and gadgets has dropped to what is today a measly 15″ Powerbook and a PIII 500 server which is located at a friends place, where I skillfully leach on his BBB connection to get the goods.
At this point in time, I don’t even have a TV (although I have a small projector).
So in 3 years, I dropped from 5 always on computers in my apartment, to one laptop and one computer at a friends place. I also have much smaller energy bills.
So what fills that empty server room now? I enjoy wandering around town, chilling with friends, kendo, climbing (just started!), sitting in the sun and reading books on subways. There are other things, but I won’t bore you with all the details.
So what does all this have to do with black and white?
Well, when I was an all out geek, I sat at home, programming, gaming, watching movies…. Most of my friends were the same, and we either did that stuff at home, or went to each other’s apartments to do it.
Now, I enjoy going outside, or just having some tea and playing table-top games like Ninja Burger, or Go.
Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy computer games, and I love computers and gadgets. Yet I also feel the need to be away from these things, I no longer prioritize them.
My world is no longer black and white, it has become gray, and I realized today that I have a great deal of trouble balancing my social life with my geek/work life.
I have shed the skin of a Geek, and out came a new person, a different person who remembers fondly the nights he spent playing Ultima Online, Everquest and Diablo, yet now wants to experience the other side of life. To enjoy the world outside the window.
