the work of our hands

One of my first jobs in the IT space was at a state university. Overall it was a great job and a great introduction to the IT space. I progressed from a kid in a call center to a working young adult on a professional sysadmin team. I got lots of training, lots of experience, learned what to do and what not to do. Co-workers became friends, a few of which I still interact with almost 15 years later.

One thing my team didn't care for as much was how fluid the IT space we worked in was. Being based at a university, we tended towards the bleeding edge of things (which had its benefits) but we also tended towards lots of change. Often the change would come even before something was launched; because of this procrastination was the norm because people didn't want to get weeks into a project only to have the rug pulled out from underneath them because of a pivot to whatever was new or better. It wasn't necessarily a good feeling to put so much time into something only to wash your hands of it.

I know the feeling of frustration, skepticism and cynicism from those experiences well; lately I find myself pondering something similar but from a bit of a different perspective: what happens when you leave one position to discover that all of that work and energy you put into it (which includes a lot of blood, sweat and tears) was tossed aside?

On one hand: so what? It's no longer what you do. Get over it and move on (I guess).

On the other hand though I do wonder about reclaiming it and creating something new. I'm not sure that's possible or worthwhile. But I do wonder if that's a valid outlet for any creeping or lingering feelings of frustration, disappointment or disillusionment.

I don't know though - it's all something I'm still processing and sorting out.