throw_away42

By striking out on your own, you mean launch a business? Highly suggest checking out The Personal MBA, Art of the Start, Fogcreek's Software Management Reading List and a book called SPRINT by Google Ventures! GOOD LUCK!

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE REPLIES! This has been very enlightening. I've been learning the last couple of days that opening up to people is not so bad. Ultimately, I think I'll give more details if my gut deems it necessary and the gap comes up. Otherwise, I'll just state that I was burned out and that I had to take some time off for some medical reasons. Cheers everyone!

No substantial,finished or deployed software projects. I was working on a game design spec and some fiction though.