Every now and then I get reminded of something I really like about the web: the serendipity associated with finding a link to something online (an article, a video or image ) and when you go about exploring that link you see something that nudges you, that moves you, that leads you to think about stuff in a different way, all that at the distance of a single click.

Today I watched this talk and it reminded me of that ( When we build – Wilson Miner). Plenty of things stuck with me after watching the talk but I’d just like to mention two.

First the talk is beautifully crafted: the pace, the use of video and sound, the message and the slides are all combined in a wonderful way. I watched it a couple of times and it just feels magical.

Second it reminded me of why I chose to build things as a career path:

We are tool builders, we make things that change our lives, we make
things that change the world. We are a product of our world but we are
also it’s designer. We shape our tools and therefore our tools shape
us. When we are all gone all that is left of us is what we have made.
What do we want to spend our time with? What do we want to shape us ?
What do we want to see grow? We all have something that we want to
make for no other reason then wanting it to exist. Something small but
meaningful. You know what do we get to do when we leave this room? We
get to make things! Things that nudge the world a little bit in what
we hope is the right direction. We get to put a dent in the universe.
This is a great job!“

It reminded me of how magic it is to be able to have ideas and then go and implement them. Ideas that follow you, ideas that spend countless days being groomed/cooked in your brain until one day, the only thing you can possible do about it, is just go and build it.