On being influenced and striving to be the teacher.

I believe that through a series of very fortunate events, a lifelong commitment to learning, and whole lot of blood, sweat and tears that I have a moderately successful career in Tech.

I look back with great appreciation and admiration at all of the individuals who helped guide me into the developer I am today, and I look at the luminaries in the tech industry who helped shape my opinions and desires and – as a result of their insight and passion – consider myself extraordinarily lucky.

Passion for new ideas, new technologies, and new techniques has driven my path forward, but understanding the history, foundations and architectures has kept me fueled.

I’ll never learn everything, and that’s a sobering thought. There’s so much to do and learn and understand and – given the finite period of time that I’ll walk on planet Earth – I need to learn and understand all that I consider interesting and important, not wasting energy on trivialities.

That’s a tough edge to walk, though.

I didn’t develop a passion for knowledge and technology over night. I had to learn to learn. John Sonmez at SimpleProgrammer said it much better than I ever could, and he’s perfectly on point: “I am responsible for my own education.” To that end, I’ve dedicated my life to some ethereal ideal of learning.

Learning for yourself, though, has a severe limitation: You become somewhat complacent. You’re no longer stretching your skill set, you’re not learning at the absolute reaches of your ability.

You’re not gleaming the cube.

It’s at this crossroads that you must decide no longer to be influenced, but be the Influencer. Some individuals are much more gifted than I in this capacity: I’ve always been more passive, more of a follower. It’s unnatural for me to guide.

I really have to push myself to lead.

This blog and the content within represent a baby step toward that goal: To outline my thoughts, learn new technologies and – better yet – to teach what I know to others, to give back to a community that has given so much to me.

Learning to learn has come full circle. It’s now time to learn to teach.