“And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.”
— Khalil Gibran
📌 Source
💡 Developers, Burnout, and Rediscovering Why You Started
I came across this quote recently and couldn’t stop thinking about how true it feels—not just in personal relationships, but in our lives as developers.
So many of us enter this field out of curiosity, joy, or the thrill of solving hard problems. But somewhere along the way—between deadlines, burnout, and broken CI/CD pipelines—we lose touch with the why.
And oddly enough, it’s often only when we take a break—or even consider quitting—that we realize how deeply we actually care.
🧠 My Moment of “Separation”
A few months ago, I took a 3-week break from coding after a brutal crunch period. I closed VS Code. No commits. No side projects. Nothing.
The silence was weird. At first, it felt freeing. But slowly, I found myself missing it—not the stress, but the joy of building. The thrill of solving that one bug at 1:00 AM. The quiet satisfaction of shipping something useful.
That quote hit me like a brick:
“Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.”
I didn’t realize how much I loved being a developer until I stepped away from it.
🔁 What This Taught Me
This applies in more areas than just burnout:
You may not realize the value of a great mentor or teammate until they’re gone.
You might underappreciate the process of coding when you're hyper-focused on just output.
Sometimes walking away from a job, side project, or toxic culture can clarify what actually matters to you.
🧭 Parting Thought
If you’re feeling burnt out, jaded, or disconnected from your work—it’s okay. But maybe take a breath. Take a step back.
Sometimes, separation isn't the end. Sometimes it's what reminds us of the depth we never acknowledged.
And who knows? You might fall in love with code all over again.
💬 Have you ever rediscovered your passion after stepping away from tech—even briefly? I’d love to hear your story.
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