Couple thoughts on this, since I have also lost most interest I used to have.

1) It always feels like it's getting stolen and given to somebody wealthy's bank account. Kind of like this publication. [1] I tend to be honest and hard working at my software jobs. I get given extra work with no pay, while drawing aggro from my coworkers for making them look bad. Guy who schmoozes and sends distracting GIFs at work to the boss, goes on golf retreats. I'm used until they can burn me up and throw me away, while most of the office sighs that they finally drove me away.

2) Most places have a severe opposition to actual change. Software's one of the worst. If somebody had not released LLMs and TTIMs, nobody would have. The moat's too ephemeral, the market advantage too short. Amazon / Google / Apple / Netflix all want businesses where they do no effort and have infinite returns. Netflix barely makes shows. Check Nielsens. [2] "Grey's Anatomy", "Gilmore Girls", "Six Feet Under", "NCIS", "Suits"? They're all acquired and other than "Suits" 20+ years old. Google cancels anything that might interfere with core market, moving ads. Amazon generated the idea of "enshitification" with Bezos fighting over burning the diaper industry to the ground, so he could get his diapers.

3) Actual advice a) Try Challenge.gov [3] There's actually some neat Challenges. The Library of Congress had one recently that I made a game for [4] mostly for the same reasons you're noting. It was actually "mostly" enjoyable as long as I didn't take it super seriously.

4) Actual advice b) Try the NASA mailing list [5] They have hundreds of grant and funding proposals every year, and many involve software engineering doing something practical with the chance for funding if you have your own company. Sole proprietorships are not that difficult to form. I formed one in my home state in about a week. Getting registered with SAM.gov [6] though is a PITA. Cannot downvote enough. Senators should forced forced to apply for grants and use Grants.gov and SAM.gov as form of torture.

5) Actual advice c) Try hardware using software engineering. Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Microcontrollers, drones, imagery, sensors, cell phone hardware features, automobile / airplane software, industrial automation, antennas and transmission systems, Personal Area Networks (PAN) [of Internet of Thing (IoT) devices], prosthetics, sound and audio hardware/tools, peripherals, network hardware, specific components (CPU, GPU, RAM, ROM, ect...), supercomputing, removables and media, robotics, large stuff (wind turbines, power plants, electric grids), home / yard automation, 3D printing, medical / health care devices, and experimental / academic devices.

[1] "Loyal workers are selectively and ironically targeted for exploitation" https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00221...

[2] "Top 10 Streaming Shows by Category" https://www.nielsen.com/top-ten/

[3] "Public listing of Gov sponsored challenges" https://www.challenge.gov/

[4] "American Cities" http://forsako.rf.gd/AmericanCities/LibOfCongressGame.html?i...

[5] "NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System" https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/

[6] "The Official U.S. Government System for Contracts, GSA" https://sam.gov/content/home