It is never-ending if you're doing it well, and want to keep your "thing". Maintenance isn't an improvement, or a project, it's just what you do to keep your thing serviceable. I would say most of society is geared toward project work, with rapid turnover in all areas of life. Cars, phones, devices, even leadership and communities come and go quickly, which coupled with FOMO like you've pointed out, makes it hard to care about maintenance.
In the software world, we see this acutely, we know from experience that our projects are lucky to see 3 years of use before they're ditched, from failure or from a rebuild. In the agency world, my work can be gone in less than 12 months, when a clients new Creative Director or Head of Digital wants to leave their mark with a new site or app.
There is beauty in use and maintenance though, there is type of wear you see on well-used infrastructure that sees regular maintenance. It's worn, but clean, and in working order. Use and wash a handrail enough times and it'll end up polished. A well used bike-path looks worn down but it's free of debris. A well-maintained bicycle might have worn paint but doesn't creak or squeak, that kind of thing. I saw it a lot in Japan, some of their infrastructure looks worn and outdated, but it's all clean and serviceable. It's worn because it lasted so long, thanks to being well maintained.
I remember visiting my sister when she graduated with her MBA and the stone steps in many buildings showed clearly decades of use. They were clean and the handrails were in the good repair. Nice university.
In the software world, we see this acutely, we know from experience that our projects are lucky to see 3 years of use before they're ditched, from failure or from a rebuild. In the agency world, my work can be gone in less than 12 months, when a clients new Creative Director or Head of Digital wants to leave their mark with a new site or app.
There is beauty in use and maintenance though, there is type of wear you see on well-used infrastructure that sees regular maintenance. It's worn, but clean, and in working order. Use and wash a handrail enough times and it'll end up polished. A well used bike-path looks worn down but it's free of debris. A well-maintained bicycle might have worn paint but doesn't creak or squeak, that kind of thing. I saw it a lot in Japan, some of their infrastructure looks worn and outdated, but it's all clean and serviceable. It's worn because it lasted so long, thanks to being well maintained.