You don't always need to love the code

In a community programming forum I heard a new developer say:

I quit programming, here to chat. It was fun when I did development as a kid, but since then it's no longer enjoyable

I'm here to say; That's OK. You are still welcome to hang if you don't program. I've 'quit' coding a few times myself. Came back and found even more joy in the industry, the people and sometimes the code. You don't need to code for fun, or have fun coding in order to get through the gates to our community.

When I haven't loved writing code, I've found a lot of joy in other places. To list a few:

• Solving a problem for someone. For people outside the technical space, what we do is magic, working hard on solving their exact problem with the most boring code is my top joy in development.
• Learn something new. Get creative and pick up a new skill. I find the initial learning curve to be one of the most thrilling things that keeps me in love with my career.
• Understanding the magic. Getting to the bottom of a legacy code base, reading the source behind your favorite library or framework.

What we do can be done as a profession or a Hobby. But for some it's not healthy to do both. You can still be a part of the community.