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How to Build a Hut for Your Psyche
The architecture of inner calm
“They need you to rewrite the entire thing, David. The client changed their mind again.”
Not the news I wanted to hear after spending the entire previous week designing and programming a sound and lighting system for a finicky customer — especially one over 1,800 miles away.
I felt the anger rise from my chest, creep up my neck, and wrap itself around my temples like a smoldering hug. I managed to stop it before it reached my mouth.
“No worries. I assume the deadline hasn’t changed?” I asked calmly.
My boss sighed. “No, they still need the files Wednesday morning.”
It was Monday.
I hung up the phone, took a deep breath, grabbed my machete, stepped out into the Central American heat, and began hacking away at the weeds taking over my yard. With each swing of the machete, I imagined I was chopping off a little bit of my frustration, slowly whittling it down until both my yard and my mood were level again.
It was 2011, and I lived in a small house at the end of a dirt road in El Salvador. It covered about 300 square feet — practically a hut by U.S. standards. I worked remotely as a programmer for a U.S.-based audio/visual company, earning around $800 a month —…
