Apart from the output of my professional life my hobby projects all seem to end up in the same way. After the novelty wears off they all get thrown on the pile of done.
I feel like there is very little I carry along and most of the fruits of my efforts lay by the wayside once the focus shifts to the next new thing. And sometimes there isn't even a new thing stealing my drive, some projects just run out of gas by themselves.
So my life is a bouquet of unfinished projects of various size, shape and magnitude. I live a solitary life, my projects have no users except me so there is no wonder really why this is the case. I've tried maintaining emacs packages for others and it feels like a chore to me. I mean I already have a full time job, it's not like I need another one.
I suppose a painter does not consider their paintings dead ends though. If I were a painter rather than a coder I would perhaps have accomplished something of value. Yet there is the saying some painters spend their whole life painting the same painting, re-calibrating the scene, adjusting the colours. I have the greatest compassion with any artist suffering under these conditions.
I've felt the need to accomplish something my whole life. Perhaps its the way some of us are brought up to be competitive. Maybe it's a need most answer to. Still it would be a pleasure to just exist and enjoy the journey, the knowledge gained by the effort without focusing on the often little value of that which was made.
We learn by the mistakes we make, surely whoever makes the most of them will reign supreme in their accumulated wisdom. I'm too cautious to make that many mistakes though and will have to settle to being ruled by others and lament those who have made even less of them than I.