Not to be snarky - you’re in one my friend right here. But something I noticed is as I get older there’s less coherent frameworks to grip onto in life. Instead my internal framework is what I have left, and when I trust it enough it is enough. I suspect this is how maturity works on a continuum. Where at one time the world was organized to lift you, at a point no one is there beside you, you’re the one reaching down to lift others up. You are creating the framework because you see where the holes are and where there needs support. As careers end not too far out from us, there’s just no one there reaching down.

I think agism is an interesting thing to dig into. It’s something that after a lifetime of being the youngest person on the team is starting to poke it’s head up. I suspect the answer lies in being picky about who you work with, avoiding the flashy places marketing to fill seats with bodies, and finding the places doing significant and advanced work without glitz. I also suspect remote work evens this field a bit, especially if you grew up in an irc / Usenet / mailing list sort of dev framework as I did.