I was talking with another vibe coder the other day about that feeling you get when the AI just gets it right
You know the one where you describe what you want in plain English and suddenly there’s working code on your screen
It’s like magic every single time
But here’s something I’ve been thinking about lately
What happens when that initial rush wears off
When you’re not actively vibe coding and the dopamine isn’t flowing
We need to find other sources of satisfaction in our work
Remember that feeling when you finally understand a complex system
When all the pieces click into place and you can see how everything connects
That’s a different kind of high
It’s deeper and lasts longer than the quick hit of seeing AI generate code
There’s joy in helping others understand technical concepts too
When you explain something complicated in simple terms and watch that light bulb moment
That’s pure gold
Or what about the satisfaction of cleaning up messy prompts and making them more elegant
Refining your intentions until they’re crystal clear
That’s where the real art of vibe coding lives
In the spaces between the actual code generation
I find myself getting more satisfaction from designing robust systems than from the quick wins
Thinking about how different capabilities will work together
Planning how they’ll evolve over time
That’s the stuff that keeps me engaged long after the initial excitement fades
Maybe we need to shift our focus from the output to the process
From the code that gets generated to the thinking that makes it possible
Because ultimately that’s what makes this work meaningful
Not just the quick dopamine hits but the deeper satisfaction of creating something lasting
What keeps you going when the initial thrill is gone