From the archive

You're finally free. Why does it feel like this?

There is a tempting way to restore the old clarity: find a new enemy immediately. The new country. The new clients. The people who don't share your definition of how everything should work. Some of those complaints will be justified. The question is whether you are investigating a problem or recruiting it. Does this particular inconvenience need addressing, or do you need it to become the reason your whole life remains on hold? Being permanently on your way out is a remarkably complete identity. You never have to explain what you want to stay for. I don't want to spend the rest of my life getting better at departures while treating every arrival as an administrative error.