10/22/21

What seems like a long time ago (a decade ago, actually), I had a friend in law school who was from this small town called Manistee. The town always sounded cool to me: a kaleidoscope of rural America, Midwest and coastal vibes. I always wanted to visit it. Today I finally visited, and I am glad that I did because I really like it here.

A lot has changed since I went to law school. I have had entire legal and education careers rise and sunset. As I discussed yesterday, I recently moved from my hometown of Red Bluff, a town where I once thought I was going to live the rest of my life. Why did I move? Because so much had changed. The town, its institutions, the people who had come and gone, and the landscape itself had changed to the point where I no longer recognized the place. I no longer felt the connection to it that I once had felt, and I could no longer point to anything or anyone actually holding me to the place. And of course, the politics of the country has greatly changed over the past decade. Those politics have changed us.

I’m sad to say that I have been slow to reach out to my old law school friends since moving back to Omaha. This is largely because life in a small town over the past decade, combined with the intense polarization of the country, has led to me seeing the world differently from many of my old, suburban colleagues. I’m not sure what a discussion sounds like with these old friends once going down such divergent paths, nor am I sure whether any discussion could occur at all. So, I avoid contacting people, including my old friend from Manistee.

So what am I doing up here in Michigan? Quite bluntly, I’m searching for happiness and the next stage in my life. As I said yesterday, I know now, through trial-and-error, that life needs some combination of a location that gives you energy, a career that gives you joy, and a person that shows you love (romantic love) in order to remain happy. In fact, it is my theory that you need at least two of these three things to maintain a happy life. If you have all three, then consider yourself truly blessed. If you only have one, you will get by but at the same time you will feel like you are languishing, like something is missing in your life. None, and you better make some changes to your life right away. But with two of the above, you can find happiness even if you never achieve the third thing. For example, you might be someone who loves where they live and loves their career, but you may never find love (in fact, I was just such a person for many years). Such a life can actually be quite rewarding. Or, you might be someone who cannot stand where you work, but you love your spouse and you love where you live and so you accept the crappy job. Or, maybe you are someone who has a great job and a great romantic interest in your life, but you are in a town that you definitely are not enthusiastic about. You too will find a happy life, even though you did not achieve the perfect three out of three.

The key to a successful and satisfying life is getting to that two out of three, and that is what I am doing here in Michigan. I have more or less given up on love (and the matter of whether I am loved by someone is not really something in my control), so instead I am focusing on finding a new hometown that speaks to me and gives me energy, and a new career that gives me the kind of joy I felt when teaching and mentoring others.

My time in Michigan has been amazing, jaw-dropping, eye-opening. I had no idea that this State was this beautiful, and more importantly this livable. I’ve loved every minute of my time here. The landscape is cold, but lush, colorful and it speaks to me. Coming from a place in constant drought, I am just in awe at the Great Lakes, these massive oceans of fresh water just there to enjoy. The people of rural Michigan (the women especially) are so kind, and every smile and bubbly hello from a stranger holds you like a warm blanket.

If this were a decade ago, I would immediately check the box for location, move to a town like Marquette or Manistee and start the search for career. But this is not a decade ago. Politics have found their way into everything, and I would fear that living in Michigan would end up feeling too much like living under Newsom in California. So by design, Michigan is just the start of my trip – a site-seeing tour kickstarting my first road trip to see and explore the states I am actually looking at moving to. These states include New Hampshire, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, and the state where my family lives, Nebraska. The first state that I’m going to be looking at is New Hampshire. I am on my way out there to explore the area and to explore the potential for employment at an independent Catholic high school located in Sunapee (a school quite similar to the one in Red Bluff where I previously found happiness and joy in career). On my way back, I may go through Kentucky, and on my return to Omaha I then have a meeting with the Vice President of Bridges Trust, to seek his mentorship and to discuss the potential for employment routes. Because if I stay in Omaha, I think I would like to retire the law career for a while and explore something new: a career in quantitative analysis and market strategy. Something that makes use of the math and econ world that used to be my everything. We will see where I end up, but for now I’m keeping my mind open to the future.

Anyways, tomorrow is going to consist of a bunch of driving as I make my way to the east coast. My next post will likely be in a few days, following my exploration of upstate New York. For now, enjoy the below pictures of Manistee! Like I said, it was a really cool place. It kind of reminded me of a Michigan-version of Red Bluff in its architecture…

Cheers,

Rob