http://spajde.targeteil.org/?q=node/75

How things have changed!

About a year and a half ago, I first ventured into the mad and addictive world of online interaction, first as a student in the MDE programme through Athabasca University, then as a participant in elgg.net, and finally as owner-operator of a pile of open source-powered websites.

Things got really out of hand. The degree, the elgg community, the software and my little Web garden took over my life. If I wasn't studying, I was writing. If I wasn't writing, I was installing a website or tweaking a file or battling a bug. Family life suffered. Work suffered. I grew disenchanted with my career as an overseas English teacher. I lost students. I hardly cared.

Then a midlife crisis hit and I had misgivings about everything but the things that count: God, family and my potential to serve. That's when I let my Web garden weed over a bit, paid only occasional visits to the networks I'd joined and returned to the things I belong with. Everything improved, including my income. I took a long walk on a mountain in the dark and opened my heart to the universe. I got perspective. I remembered who I was and what I was trying to do with my life. I put everything in its place.

You know, I actually wavered over making this entry. I didn't feel the need to share any of this with anybody. But then I thought that somewhere out there, surfing or socializing, there might be somebody else in a boat like mine, somebody who needed a push away from the keyboard and back into life.

Push.

My Web garden still has its place. My Course Portal has become an integral part of some of my classes and I've added a site or two to handle new projects. But I don't check the Net every day. When I do check, I don't check for long. I only create content when it really seems worth it. It's great to be free.

I've decided to put the MDE on hold. I've developed a new enthusiasm for my career and plan to get a master's in applied linguistics when I have the money for it. In the meantime, I'm developing LIDbIT (Language Item Database of Integrated Tables) and Simplit, two products which will probably form the bulk of my master's project.

Web development figures in my plans and will probably loom large in my MDE project when I get back to it. But I am no longer ensnared in the sticky digital threads. I spend most of my time away from the Internet, happily playing with my kids, walking my dog, reading my books, talking with my wife, cultivating my career. It's a kind of resurrection.

http://spajde.targeteil.org:80/?q=node/75

How things have changed!

About a year and a half ago, I first ventured into the mad and addictive world of online interaction, first as a student in the MDE programme through Athabasca University, then as a participant in elgg.net, and finally as owner-operator of a pile of open source-powered websites.

Things got really out of hand. The degree, the elgg community, the software and my little Web garden took over my life. If I wasn't studying, I was writing. If I wasn't writing, I was installing a website or tweaking a file or battling a bug. Family life suffered. Work suffered. I grew disenchanted with my career as an overseas English teacher. I lost students. I hardly cared.

Then a midlife crisis hit and I had misgivings about everything but the things that count: God, family and my potential to serve. That's when I let my Web garden weed over a bit, paid only occasional visits to the networks I'd joined and returned to the things I belong with. Everything improved, including my income. I took a long walk on a mountain in the dark and opened my heart to the universe. I got perspective. I remembered who I was and what I was trying to do with my life. I put everything in its place.

You know, I actually wavered over making this entry. I didn't feel the need to share any of this with anybody. But then I thought that somewhere out there, surfing or socializing, there might be somebody else in a boat like mine, somebody who needed a push away from the keyboard and back into life.

Push.

My Web garden still has its place. My Course Portal has become an integral part of some of my classes and I've added a site or two to handle new projects. But I don't check the Net every day. When I do check, I don't check for long. I only create content when it really seems worth it. It's great to be free.

I've decided to put the MDE on hold. I've developed a new enthusiasm for my career and plan to get a master's in applied linguistics when I have the money for it. In the meantime, I'm developing LIDbIT (Language Item Database of Integrated Tables) and Simplit, two products which will probably form the bulk of my master's project.

Web development figures in my plans and will probably loom large in my MDE project when I get back to it. But I am no longer ensnared in the sticky digital threads. I spend most of my time away from the Internet, happily playing with my kids, walking my dog, reading my books, talking with my wife, cultivating my career. It's a kind of resurrection.