“A child free from the guilt of ownership and the burden of economic competition will grow up with the will to do what needs doing and the capacity for joy in doing it. It is useless work that darkens the heart. The delight of the nursing mother, of the scholar, of the successful hunter, of the good cook, of the skillful maker, of anyone doing needed work and doing it well – this durable joy is perhaps the deepest source of human affection and of sociability as a whole.”
-- The Dispossessed
Over the years I've done a fair amount of good work as a programmer. These days, I get as much joy as I ever got programming by cooking some vegetable soup and sharing it with friends. (And it's cheap: $10 makes about 2 gallons [~7 liters]).
It's remarkably true and something I relate to. Some of the smallest but most satisfying experiences I have are hauling heavy rocks up a riverbank to build a fire pit and chopping firewood after walking miles to find the right spot to camp. It was menial and tiring but damn was it satisfying and did it make me feel good to have done it.
