Software design and implementation should be a joyous art, a kind of high-level play. If this attitude seems preposterous or vaguely embarrassing to you, stop and think; ask yourself what you've forgotten. Why do you design software instead of doing something else to make money or pass the time? You must have thought software was worthy of your passion once...
To do the Unix philosophy right, you need to recover that attitude. You need to care. You need to play. You need to be willing to explore.