we often say that programming is more an art than a science, but we need to treat it like one too.
Sometimes you need to paint a sunset not because someone paid you to paint a sunset, but because it'd be fun to paint a sunset.
@foone there is a practical side to this as well. "Happy trees" code is almost guaranteed to be easily maintained code. Most 'optimised' code I see is optimised to feed the programmer's ego and little else.
But I'm left with a big question: what is the equivalent of beating the devil out of your brush? Should I bash my keyboard against the leg of my desk?