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It's interesting to think that becoming some kind of programmer could be seen as 'breaking free of professional life'
This kind of hit me! I felt like I had totally broken free after trading a full time job for a... full time job? I think it's indicative of a sense that you've transitioned from a job where you have to be a "professional" to a job where you can be yourself, whether that's in how you express yourself through your work, how you schedule your work week, your wellbeing or something else entirely.
Damn
LightningPesto-
This. Also, your job should align with your aptitudes and interests.
http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
I have always been a maker. I like working to my own schedule and getting into an undisturbed flow where I am deeply engrossed in what I am doing. Some people prefer to spend their day in meetings, and engaging with colleagues directly. If you are an extrovert stuck in a job where you are forced to focus on a task without enough human interaction, or an introvert stuck in a job where you have to interact with people all day, you will become miserable.
Invent
Probably stuff like how to write scalable, performant, easy to read and easy to maintain code and how to interface safely (oh-er!) with other parts of whatever technology stack is being used.
On topic, It's interesting to think that becoming some kind of programmer could be seen as 'breaking free of professional life' but whatever works, works.