Two years ago I bid farewell to the world of full-time work (more on that in a moment), confident my wife and I had planned carefully and well.
You already know the punchline, so I’ll get right to it: my Emperor Palpatine moments (hear now in your head the Emperor’s smug gloat to Darth Vader “Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen”) were fleeting.
Surprises, I’ve had a few. Thinking about it now, though, I should be most surprised by the fact that I was surprised.
Why is that, you ask?
When in my life up to that point had everything gone according to plan? I was working as a corporate lawyer, for heaven’s sake! The job description might as well be “Daily triage of other idiots’ fuckups; that is when you’re not putting out fires of your own making.”