2026-08-02
Yesterday I wrote about balance1. I've been thinking about social balance lately, too.
As an introvert with primarily screen-based hobbies, I don't get out much. I can feel my social skills atrophying, becoming both weaker and harder to call forth. My learning is also screen-based - not only the code stack I'm working through, but other topics I'm casually learning2, too.
Technical skills can only go so far on their own without effective collaboration. Working on a team of people towards a common goal is an obvious example, but even as a solo developer, my techincal solutions can only be as good as my ability to understand the problems that I'm trying to solve.
(Side Story: At my first "real" job, a more senior developer encouraged us to read a ton of documentation on development best practices. We may have groaned at having to read so much information, but a lot of the content has stuck with me and made me a better, more intuitive coder. One of the principles that stuck with me the most (and that I won't shut up about if given the chance to talk about it) was Domain Driven Design3. Understanding the domain for the problems I'm meant to be solving has allowed me to design better code, better communicate with everyone (upstream, downstream, technical peers, and non-technical peers at all levels both above and below my own), cut bloat out of applications, ... the positives go on and on. It's so good.)
Anyway, I have to remember practice and improve social skills. They're just as important as the technical skills and deserve time and effort, too.
I've been joining a group going to a pottery studio once a week for the past few months. When my website-triggering something4 happened, I missed a week of pottery. I almost sent a message the following week to say that I would be dropping the hobby for the time being. Instead, I forced myself to go. As much as I didn't want to, as much as I felt that I needed to spend more time on technical skills, and realistically as much as I just didn't feel like being around people, I knew that I needed to maintain my one social habit to practice.
Every week it feels like climbing a mountain to get out of bed, get ready, gather all my supplies, push away the introvert dread of voluntarily putting myself into a social situation, and bike over to the studio - but every week I end up glad that I went. It's not about the pottery. It's about having a consistent group of people get together to work on a common hobby and chat. Each week I feel that we are becoming more open with each other as we discover shared values, share our wins, and vent our struggles.
With the omnipresense of technology, we have to be more intentional than ever before about seeking real, in-person connections with other humans.
Maybe I'll share some of my pottery on my art page eventually.