Decided to return to this blog and expand its purpose to serve as a space for life journey reflections beyond just career related adventures. I started this blog when I embarked on the path of software development with a desire to track and share my learnings with others curious about a similar journey. I’m back 8 years later, with a good chunk of a software career under my belt, to pause and take stock of what I’ve learned, where I am, and where I’d like to go. I’ve decided to step back from work to have time to reflect and reestablish some spiritual health routines I consider necessary for having clarity moving into whatever this next stage of life will be. I turned 33 years old yesterday, and have been holding in mind the historical significance of this age for many of our popular prophets. Gautama Buddha was 33 when he decided to renounce the wealth and comfort of his royal existence and embark on the journey to better understand the nature of suffering. Jesus was 33 when he sacrificed his life for the sins of mankind. I understand these spiritual journeys as a form of sabbath observance because it requires a shift in one’s relationship to time. Your higher life mission is immune to time constraints. You slow down, to stop if needed, until the next step is clear. The likeness of God can be found in time, which is eternity in disguise, Heschel says. It’s a time to collect the knowledge and truths we have gathered about ourselves and the world be moved by them. Which might require a lot of stillness at first.