"Programming" is different from "getting paid to program" in the same way that being a painter is different from being a materially successfully artist. I thin

"Programming" is different from "getting paid to program" in the same way that being a painter is different from being a materially successfully artist. I think it's reasonable to have the act of programming be a big part of your identity—it certainly is mine—without necessarily hanging your sense of self on any one particular job.