Calm pursuit of creative flow

If there’s anything that I want more for my work, it is what DHH (creator of Ruby on Rails) described so well in his blog post:

“…it’s the essence of a good work life: A place of calm for interruption-free pursuits of interesting projects. A portal to the state of flow.” - DHH

He was talking about his old basement office where he made his career-defining projects like Rails, but the main points were these key words:

Interesting projects.
Free of distractions.
Calm pursuit.
Flow.

That’s what I’m after too. At the root.

Yes earning money is important. But it’s a necessity, for survival, for family. Making projects that generate revenue isn’t what defines creative success for me personally. It’s not what can be counted - likes, impressions, page views, followers.

It’s about being able to experience flow. The relaxed joy of creating. The calm pursuit of interesting projects, away from the noise of a noisy, noisy world. The aliveness of making something. Anything.

That’s what truly counts. That which cannot be counted.

That which can be counted upon to feel a sense of satisfaction for a creative life well lived.

I’ll die a happy man, if I could be close to that feeling for most days in a year, for most years in a lifespan.

Just let me create.