What's your motivation for teaching a dojo lesson?

Showing the world that you know a thing or two about Drupal? Or maybe giving back to the community that enables you to build successful sites (assuming you use Drupal)? There are probably 100 more reasons, but what incentive is there for writing one-line posts on a forum/group like this?

Maybe we should just turn this question around to something like: what's your motivation for teaching? I'm motivated to talk about/evangelize/teach Drupal because it has changed my life for the better in many ways, and the lives of many people around me. It has created a ton new of "news makers", empowered a new generation of activists, and led to an explosion of online communities. It is saving the world, and I want a walk on part in that play...

I have done very little in teaching, other than training my clients how to update a site that they have. However, I do desire to teach more. Because I do desire to teach more, and because there is this question of incentives, or "why", I then think to myself: what is the source of my desire to teach?

1. I think I have a built-in in need to share with others. I feel lonely and isolated when all I do is take and accumulate. If I never share, I start to feel pointless.
2. I gain friends and colleagues, and they might return the favor, when I need to learn something. I (probably like most web developers) am stretched almost to my limit with work and demands, including "What is the best way to implement XYZ feature". Sharing and contributing to a common community keeps us "on the same page" so when I do need help, my friends will not have to start at ground zero with my problem, because they've already used the module I contributed, or tested out the code snippet I posted.
3. Being a part of something that is bigger than myself. There's something the feels really good about the give-and-take that happens in a large community when everyone is willing to share.
4. Getting outside of yourself and your own problems. Often I get buried in my own problems and issues. Momentarily setting that aside, learning and understanding someone else's problem, and at least thinking about a possible solution and offering some ideas... That is a very healthy activity that makes me a stronger healthier person.

I always like to boil down my ramblings into something more succinct, mainly so that I can figure out what I said. So here's the essence of it, for me:

• it's good for you
• it's good for people like you
• it feels good

If you don't teach at least 5 dojo lessons in the next week, rabid space monkeys will eat your harddrive.

Send this to everyone you know or you'll have bad luck for 7 years.

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