I locked in a 3.25% mortgage rate in a desirable suburb. It looks like success on the surface, but feels far from it.

One car ride home, my observant 6-year-old asked a tough question: “Mommy, do you want to live here?”

I suppose she’d heard me complain about life in the DC suburbs a few too many times. Still, in a moment of vulnerability and sadness, I said, “No, I miss my friends, and I miss Georgia.”

In her most supportive and matter-of-fact tone, she reminded me that I’m the boss of us, and that we can move whenever I want to. I’ve weighed these words many nights.

After all, before moving here seven years ago, I’d spent more than a decade building a life I loved in Atlanta.

I’d originally landed there in 2006 to pursue a career as a photographer, and it’s…