When I actually write code from scratch, I’m wrestling. I hit syntax errors, I refactor ugly loops, I stare at a blank terminal until something clicks. It’s friction. And five years into sobriety, I’ve learned that friction isn’t the enemy. It’s the forge. You can’t bypass the struggle and expect the result to stick. When an LLM spits out a perfect function after a three-line prompt, I’m not building anymore. I’m just… curating. Watching a machine do the heavy lifting while I nod along like it’s a séance I didn’t actually call.

Carl Jung talked about how psychological growth happens when we actively engage with the unconscious, not when we outsource the work to a convenient dream. Coding manually is a lot like active imagination. You confront the problem, you sit in the discomfort, and slowly the structure emerges from your own nervous system. AI-assisted development skips that alchemical stage entirely. It hands you the finished elixir before you’ve even ground the herbs.

Tarot’s got a clean read for this, too. Traditional creation energy lives in The Magician—conscious will, focused intent, turning raw material into something functional. But this new workflow? It’s got The Hanged Man vibes. You’re suspended, surrendering control, trusting the upside-down logic of a model trained on the collective internet. That’s not inherently bad, but it’s a fundamental shift in relationship. You’re no longer the craftsman. You’re the priest reading omens in the static.

I’m not saying ditch the tools. I’m just tired of the "love and light" take that AI will free us to focus on the "real" work. What if the work was the point? What if the struggle was the ritual? I’d love to hear how others are navigating this. Are you feeling the same disconnect, or am I just overthinking my weekend hobby?