[bayindirh]

I think you're agreeing with the article without knowing it. Because you're doing what you enjoy at the end of the day.

For example, I design logos and small branding for my (mostly) CLI tools which I write for myself first. Seeing these projects at completion levels comparable with other, bigger projects brings a lot of joy to me. A coherent README.MD, nice documentation and good written code is what I aspire to do, and I do it for myself first.

If others like it, that's great. If it doesn't get any attention, then it's OK, because I wrote that tool to fill my needs first.

[Notatheist]

The article wasn't saying "do what makes you happy". It was saying "if you do this you will not be happy". If I end up happy you don't get to loop back and go "Well that was the goal! You agree with me!". The author also forgets that the author is their own audience. That audience is what one imagines others might be. The pursuit of that audience's approval is valuable.

>A coherent README.MD, nice documentation and good written code is what I aspire to do, and I do it for myself first.

Did you conjure the definition of "nice" and "good" in this context from thin air? No. You defined good by what others told you was good. You're working for an audience. You're disagreeing with the article without knowing it.

[bayindirh]

> The article wasn't saying "do what makes you happy"

I disagree. Quoting the blog post itself:

    so stop optimizing for a non-existent audience and instead focus on what makes you enjoy the activity.

"Focus on what makes you enjoy the activity" means "do what makes you happy" in my parlance.

> Did you conjure the definition of "nice" and "good" in this context from thin air? No. You defined good by what others told you was good.

Absolutely no. I was always interested in visual design and set out to replicate what I saw and liked. I don't cater to anyone. My blog posts, coding style, and other things got negative comments, and I took note of them and thought about them, but I didn't agree with all of them, either. I only compete with myself and sharpen my axen the way I like. I'm chopping my own wood, so I don't need to optimize anything for others' wood.

In other areas of life, I have always chosen what to do, listen, watch and like. I don't yearn to fit in. In fact, I spent at least half of my life in a pretty opposite state.