I can't exactly tell where you're at, as far as the need for work.

From what I can see, it looks like you are able to keep the lights on, and you don't need the work.

If so, this is where I'm at. It's both good and bad.

I may be coming from a very different place, so YMMV.

I worked as a "ship" programmer and manager for over thirty years. I've been writing shrink-wrapped software (actual deliverable) for my entire career. It's taught me a great deal.

The last decade or so, my management responsibilities meant that I couldn't code on the job, so I created a number of open-source projects. I didn't have a "We own the ideas that you come up with in the shower" clause at work, so I was free to do this.

They have been fairly successful, in a rather limited scope. Since all the work was initially done with a "bus factor" of 1, the projects are not massive; but they are very, very important to a certain demographic. They needed to be done at a professional level; not at a "hobby" level.

I am now at a place where I never need to work again, if I don't want, but I want to work.

During the week, I get up every morning at 5AM, do my exercise, then roll up my sleeves, and start coding. Weekends, I let myself sleep in until 6:30AM. I've been doing this for the last couple of years. It is now Christmas morning. I am taking my time doing my exercise, and will get back to coding the the Bluetooth OBD driver I'm making in an hour or so.

Yeah, I'm obsessive.

I write every line of code as shipping code; even if I never plan to ship. My test harnesses are fully-qualified apps that could be released to the app store, with localization and full-fat documentation.

Will I work again? Maybe. I certainly have skills and experience that could make folks with established corporations a lot of money, but I've found they are reluctant to hire folks my age; regardless of what I'm capable of doing. I've set up a consulting corporation, and we'll see where that goes. If nothing else, it gives me a structure to buy the toys I want.

No matter. I work as if I am writing shipping code. The satisfaction of finishing a deliverable-level project can't be replaced. I do everything as open-source. My portfolio is gigantic, and is not consistent of dozens of forked projects. Just about every line of code in it was my own. My GitHub ID is solid green. I have over a decade of commit history in dozens of repos.

I'd suggest that you consider establishing a portfolio. Write code that is meant to be shared and re-used. Write developer utilities, drivers and tools. Test the code well. Document it well. Craft it like you are a master goldsmith, creating royal treasuries. Establish a personal/professional brand. Decide on what that brand means, and make all your work reinforce that.

The world needs high-quality software. Write as a vocation; not a hobby, and whether or not anyone else values or pays for your work. If nothing else, it will be useful as an example to others.

Maybe find an NPO/NGO that doesn't have a pot to piss in, but a cause you can support. Write pro-level code for them that they could never afford on their own. That's what I did. I can definitely say that the code I've written has saved lives, and restored hope.

It also feels great to write beautiful code. Every project I do is completely shippable, and highly-polished, with strong branding, rich UX and a great deal of documentation. I'm a reasonably good artist. I was trained as one, many moons ago.

For me, doing the work is its own reward. I haven't been paid to write code in over twenty years. I don't care. I love coding. I've been writing open-source stuff for most of those decades. When they stopped paying me to write code, I didn't miss a beat, and kept writing.

I also like to write articles on my personal sites and Medium. I don't particularly care if anyone reads them or not. They give me practice doing another thing that I like to do: talk about myself ;).

Just my $0.02.

Have a great holiday season!