The Odyssey

My life right now looks very different from what I originally planned for 2026. I’m not where I thought I would be – I chose to leave my military career in August of last year, and I have been looking for a new job since at least May 2025…almost a full year now. Sometimes, I feel like I’m living a metaphorical version of Homer’s Odyssey. In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew are almost home to Ithaca, 10 years after leaving to fight in the Trojan War. Just as they can see Ithaca on the horizon, one of the crew opens a magical bag of winds, which blows them out to sea and just as far from their original goal.

Like Odysseus, I feel very lost. There are times when I get so, so close to getting a job that seems to have practically fallen into my lap. I’ve been a finalist for jobs at four different companies now. And at the last second, poof! The job opportunity vanishes. The company decides to eliminate the role. The company decides to do an internal hire instead. The company decides they need to use their hiring budget to hire a different role in a different department. My best efforts don’t stand much of a chance against unpredictable fates that I cannot control.

But I also have this…unshakeable faith that I will end up where I need to be. I can’t tell you why, I just do. Sometimes I rage against the uncontrollable machinations of the universe, and sometimes I feel grateful for this prolonged, unexpected detour. If I had gotten a job sooner, I almost certainly wouldn’t have decided to start Le Mitz Art. By having nothing else to lose, I gained the confidence to put my art out into the world. And to be honest – I absolutely love it. I love running my own business, and planning for the future, and dreaming of expanding Le Mitz Art and what it can offer.

I do have faith in myself, in a better tomorrow, and that I’ll get where I’m trying to go. I have no evidence I can offer you to prove it will happen. I am betting on my effort and the future I will create. I’m betting that one day I will chip away enough at the wall in front of me that finally, finally – a beam of light will break through, and I will see across to the other side.

After Odyssues and his crew were blown out across the ocean, they land at the island of the witch Circe. In Madeline Miller’s incredible book Circe, she tells of how Circe is imprisoned on this island by the gods. She watches Odysseus arrive, and leave, and go on to live his own life while she remains stuck on her island. She gives birth to a son, fathered by Odysseus, and he becomes very sick. Seeking a cure to save her son, she breaks her exile and wanders into the sea to face a giant stingray god by the name of Trygon. He says in order to receive a cure for her son, she must endure his sting, which causes years of unending pain. Circe submits herself to the blow, knowing that she has no other option. Seeing her resolve, Trygon does not strike her – her commitment to accepting the pain was enough. He grants her the cure, and as she turns to go home, Circe thinks to herself, “I cannot bear this world a moment longer.” Trygon hears her thoughts and responds:

“Then, child, make another.”