This is my new About page. Please let me know what you think, what questions are left unanswered, what would make it clearer, & how you feel about it if you feel some kind of way. I’m Kent Beck & my mission is to help geeks feel safe in the world. Help. I can’t make anyone else feel anything but I can help.
A wise man once said, and I agree with him, "never seek safety, instead seek strength". Safety is an illusion. However if you're strong (mentally, emotionally, humanly, etc) you have significantly greater chances of overcoming bad situations. Of course strength won't protect you against everything but it will enable you to keep going forward, and if you fall it enables you to quickly get up & running again.
Great point, a false feeling of insecurity often comes from a perception of a false threat, and learning to recognize whether the threat is real is a learnable skill indeed.
As I've grown up, it's always the scary things that have helped me grow the most. I suspect that's the case for more people. I was scared out of my mind interviewing for my first software engineering job because I felt completely under-qualified, but in a weird way I also felt "safe" - what did I have to lose by trying?
I'm not sure that committing to publishing a "Thinkie" every week is a great idea. There will be weeks when you don't have anything particular to say, At which point, you're kind of stuck either republishing something or ginning up content that's not at your preferred level.
Personally, I don't think anyone of us paying $7/month will be drumming fingers on the table top because a Thinkie didn't appear in a given week. So, I'd rather hear, "I'll publish a Thinkie on Tuesdays, when I have an insight to share that fits the Thinkie mission."
I'm trying to find a balance between consistency of publishing, which all the Successful Newsletter Gurus insist is important, stress, & quality of content. The pieces that go out to all subscribers come out as inspiration strikes me, but generally 1-2 a week. That should keep the quality up. Thinkies I'm able to knock out several at a time, so I have 1-2 months' worth already in the can. That lets me relax about whether I'm showing my paying subscribers enough love. They are always going to go out.
That said, if this isn't working for you please let me know.
A wise man once said, and I agree with him, "never seek safety, instead seek strength". Safety is an illusion. However if you're strong (mentally, emotionally, humanly, etc) you have significantly greater chances of overcoming bad situations. Of course strength won't protect you against everything but it will enable you to keep going forward, and if you fall it enables you to quickly get up & running again.
I think we agree. But you can *be* safe because of your strength & still not *feel* safe. Feeling safe when that’s appropriate is a learnable skill.
Great point, a false feeling of insecurity often comes from a perception of a false threat, and learning to recognize whether the threat is real is a learnable skill indeed.
As I've grown up, it's always the scary things that have helped me grow the most. I suspect that's the case for more people. I was scared out of my mind interviewing for my first software engineering job because I felt completely under-qualified, but in a weird way I also felt "safe" - what did I have to lose by trying?
I'm not sure that committing to publishing a "Thinkie" every week is a great idea. There will be weeks when you don't have anything particular to say, At which point, you're kind of stuck either republishing something or ginning up content that's not at your preferred level.
Personally, I don't think anyone of us paying $7/month will be drumming fingers on the table top because a Thinkie didn't appear in a given week. So, I'd rather hear, "I'll publish a Thinkie on Tuesdays, when I have an insight to share that fits the Thinkie mission."
I'm trying to find a balance between consistency of publishing, which all the Successful Newsletter Gurus insist is important, stress, & quality of content. The pieces that go out to all subscribers come out as inspiration strikes me, but generally 1-2 a week. That should keep the quality up. Thinkies I'm able to knock out several at a time, so I have 1-2 months' worth already in the can. That lets me relax about whether I'm showing my paying subscribers enough love. They are always going to go out.
That said, if this isn't working for you please let me know.
It definitely works for me!
Thoughts: I couldn't easily relate Patterns/JUnit/TDD/XP to "safety". Is it also worth having one link to one free Thinkie as a sample?
Feeling: I was slightly confused when I read the word divorce (probably because I read your other post - I took it too literally).
Overall, I thought it's a great summary of some of the stories you've published before!