As someone who writes code but also indulges in a fair bit of big-picture thinking, I’ve seen this happen to me repeatedly. I think most people in professions that require creative problem solving work in two modes.

The wired-in mode is where I’ll work on something for hours at end. For me this usually involves writing code, developing a front-end UI, or solving a problem that requires digging in, understanding new concepts, and coming up with solutions. These are phases of being “in the zone”, the most satisfying periods of work for me. I’d imagine for a writer this is when they are on a roll churning out hundreds of words in a stretch. For a painter, this is probably when it’s just them, the canvas and the long night ahead. However, imho, this is not when original thinking happens, at least not often. This is the mode to be productive, to advance your work. For me though, this is not the mode when I develop new insights and ideas.

The second, dormant mode is where the thing at the top of your mind (the problem, project, or idea) is a running thread, albeit in the background. It’s there and your brain is silently working away at it — unraveling the tangled threads, getting rid of extraneous data, surfacing important information. You are almost unaware this is happening. You are likely engaged in a low-effort activity like driving, showering, pacing your living room, or even dreaming. And boom, once in a rare while, if you’ve been at it long enough in this dormant mode, there is a moment of insight. The eureka moment. The aha thing that escaped your best efforts when you were wracking your brain in frustration trying to come up with a new idea or solution. There is of course, a lot of work ahead of you to validate it, to test it, to develop it. But, you now have a new direction, a path worth exploring. The only requirements — patience, relentless thinking, readiness to spend long spells of what appears as inactivity, and the most important, time away from that glowing screen for when that moment finally presents itself.

I like to think of it as an alternate interpretation of the Zen proverb – When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

“We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,
One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will.
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

As I stood outside my apartment gate watch them take their airport shuttle that would whisk them away, I found it hard to digest that this was really happening. It was a bittersweet feeling — I’m obviously happy that they are starting anew and fresh and beginning the next chapter of their lives but I could not escape the feeling of sadness that inevitably comes when your closest friends leave. You know they aren’t leaving you behind, that they will always be there, at a phone’s call away, a few flying hours away. And yet, your reality has changed.

I read this amazing quote somewhere — “It takes a long time to grow an old friend”. I think I experienced it today.

This is for you guys, for being such good friends over the years. Good luck and happy times as you start the next phase of your life and form new experiences and friendships!

PS – I will continue making last minute trips to your place and crashing your couches

I am at TechCrunch Disrupt NY and it’s been a fun, inspiring, and exciting five days. The hackathon, battlefield, companies in the startup alley – it has been great.

However, I am seeing far too much of the same. Apps and sites that, at the core of their business, are simply about social experiences, sharing, aggregators, and more (and not necessarily better) ways of connecting with friends and strangers. I am not against this – there are some important problems to be solved in this space but they are few and you’re going to have a hard time discovering the hidden gem – more a matter of chance than of you applying your mind. What I am seeing more of are just evolutionary changes, deltas to the existing. An incremental use of an API here, a location there, a social graph.

We are in a time of computing where it’s almost cliche´ to talk about how the barrier to entry has been lowered. EC2, APIs, web frameworks, javascript libraries, real-time web technologies, mobile SDKs have all made web and mobile development very accessible, if not easier. In light of all these advances, I’d really love to see more startups and minds tackling the hard problems – bridging the virtual and physical worlds in meaningful ways, mining volumes of data to extract patterns, tools and products to make our lives much more efficient and productive.

Me, a glass in hand, a window overlooking the street, buddha bathing in dim light, reflecting, drowning, quiet and complete silence, my oldest friend.