I can share mine. I am not sure if this connects with you because maybe you are more experienced.

I'm DevOps writing boring Python microservices for €. I have no CS background and never did systems programming. However, writing Python always bothered me because there are so many layers between you and what's happening on the metal. For me, Django is the peak example of this, to me it feels almost like doing no code. It makes me very uncomfortable writing it.

Then I heard about this new programming language Zig on YouTube and I just gave it a try. After using it for a few months, I really like it. I guess mostly because it is so explicit.

It is almost like the language encourages you to think in terms of system design. Zig offers a lot of freedom so you can design the perfect tool for your problem. And somehow, it feels very effective for it. I think it is a blessing that there are few third party libraries for the same reason.

For example. I am working on a tool to parse CIM (some XML standard). If I had to use Python for this, my solution would probably use the most popular xml parsing library and then go from there. Yawn.

Instead, with Zig I started to think with a very fresh mind about the problem. I started thinking more from the first principles of the problem. And I got very excited again about programming. During my swimming practice or biking, I kept thinking about the design and how I can make it simpler and improving it by simply not doing certain busy work. I can't fully explain it. But the language gets you in that mindset.

Maybe other system languages also offer this experience, Zig (marketing?) just happened to cross my paths at the right moment.