I don't plan on going back to legal work. I wanted an

When Nick Johnson said, “I don’t plan on going back to legal work. I wanted an international career, and finance seemed to be where some interesting career opportunities were,” he was not merely speaking of career transitions or professions — he was expressing the ancient yearning of the human spirit to evolve, to seek new horizons, and to follow the call of destiny beyond the familiar walls of comfort. His words are a quiet declaration of independence, a statement of courage against the inertia of expectation. They remind us that life is not meant to be lived within the confines of the path first chosen, but within the vast landscape of what can be imagined.

The origin of this quote lies in a moment of transformation — the crossing point between one world and another. Johnson, having begun in the disciplined realm of law, chose to depart from the security of precedent and statute to embrace the unpredictable tides of international finance. It is a decision familiar to those who have felt the tension between duty and desire, between what is safe and what is possible. In his words, we hear the timeless voice of the adventurer — the Odysseus within every soul — who must leave the shores of certainty to discover new continents of experience.

To renounce “legal work” is more than leaving a profession; it is a symbolic departure from the rule-bound life toward one governed by imagination and risk. The law represents order, stability, and the mastery of systems — it teaches one to interpret, not to invent. But finance, in Johnson’s view, was a living force — dynamic, international, filled with motion and opportunity. By turning from one to the other, he was not rejecting reason, but choosing movement over stasis, creation over repetition. In his decision, we see a reflection of an eternal truth: that the soul grows restless in confinement and must seek new challenges to remain alive.

Consider the story of Leonardo da Vinci, who began not as an artist, but as an apprentice in mechanical design and mathematics. Had he remained in his trade, obedient to expectation, the world might never have known his art, his vision, or his inventions. Like Leonardo, Johnson’s choice symbolizes the courage to transcend the boundaries of expertise, to follow the thread of curiosity wherever it may lead. The ancients taught that such transitions were sacred — that to change one’s craft is not betrayal, but rebirth. In their eyes, the one who ventures beyond his first calling becomes a seeker of wisdom rather than a servant of habit.

When Johnson speaks of an “international career,” he evokes the spirit of expansion — the desire to belong not to one city, but to the world. There is something heroic in this pursuit, for the one who steps into the global realm must learn to speak in many languages — not just of tongue, but of culture, economy, and human nature. Such a calling demands adaptability, curiosity, and humility. It is, in essence, the modern form of the philosopher’s journey — to engage with the diversity of mankind and find unity within it. The world becomes a classroom, and the self, the eternal student.

There is also wisdom in Johnson’s attraction to where “interesting career opportunities” arise. For opportunity, in its truest sense, is not about wealth or status, but about potential for growth. The ancients believed that the gods favored those who acted boldly — those who recognized the divine spark of possibility and pursued it with both intellect and passion. Johnson’s statement thus carries the tone of both humility and ambition: humility in acknowledging that the world offers endless lessons, and ambition in daring to seek them out. To follow opportunity is to follow life itself, for stagnation is the first death of the human spirit.

The lesson in these words is clear: one’s first path need not be one’s last. The law of progress is change, and the law of the soul is curiosity. We must not be bound by what we were trained to do, but guided by what we are called to become. Whether in art, science, or enterprise, the individual who listens to the whisper of evolution within himself will live a fuller and freer life. To stay too long where safety resides is to betray the adventure of existence.

So let this teaching endure: do not fear the turning of life’s wheel. If your heart calls you toward new knowledge, follow it; if the world opens a gate to greater experience, walk through it. For as Nick Johnson reminds us, the measure of a person’s life is not in how faithfully they remain in their beginnings, but in how bravely they pursue their becoming. The path may shift, but the journey — the sacred journey of growth — remains eternal.