'Now That Hell Is Over, Can I Build a New Life?'

Shortcuts to the future rarely work. Slow down and reckon with who you are instead.

Tricheurs (1957), Dorothea Tanning

This column was first published in March of 2021. Today I received an update from the letter writer, so I’m running his original letter today and publishing the follow-up tomorrow in the hopes that we can share in the suspense: HOW DID EVERYTHING TURN OUT FOR THIS GUY?

Sometimes I worry that I’ll look back and realize I …