A key part of my reckoning was the rental apartment we had in the bottom of our townhouse, which New York's hot real-estate market had made unexpectedly lucrative for us. At any rate, it seemed possible for me to write full-time without a drastic a change in our lifestyle. And even if such a change proved necessary, my wife and I were willing to try it. Somewhat to my surprise, both my wife and my parents seemed pleased at the prospect of my leaving academe. This is exactly what one wants to hear after being turned down for tenure, for the blame doesn't land on you.
Outrage is the healthy emotion.
My wife believed in my gifts as a writer, and was generously eager to get me away from department meetings and exam books. There are many moments as emotionally harrowing as tenure denial that encourage you to take stock of your life and career. Or when your spouse is offered her ideal job, or is transferred by her employer, to a distant place with no academic position for you. It is easier to realize that being a professor isn't all you had hoped than it is to concentrate on alternatives. It is hard to shake off the impassivity that usually follows tenure denial and other career crises.