Into the Future 101
“The human mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” Oliver Wendell Holmes 1809-1894; US writer, teacher
Did you ever think of how each day is a new beginning and how it is also a bridge to the future?
Did I ever mention that I am nuts about movies? I love the visuals, the sounds, the ideas in them. I can watch the worst films ever made (Roy Rogers and his horse comes to mind) and the best. (Karasawa’s The Last Samurai’s right up there.) There are so many ‘bests” even the American Film Institute has a problem listing them.
But the most exciting to me are those that spelled out futures. Check out You Tube for a collage of the most exciting Future movies, although the producers of some pretty creative Future collages left out Michael Fox in “Back to the Future.” My other favorite? Blade Runner.
I guess the point of today’s talk out loud is that we seem to start out lugging some other person’s idea of our future. My family’s idea for me was being a telephone operator. After six months, I was ready to pay them to fire me. If we’re lucky, a trigger of some sort sends us on to a different, fresher, more creative idea. One that fits you. My trigger took place during a job interview.
Have you ever sat across the desk from a buttoned up job interviewer and he or she asks in dead seriousness, “Where would you like to be in five years?” Bad news. It was the third time that day I was asked that question. I told the truth – “I’d like to have your job by then.” The guy was so stunned it took him twenty minutes to figure out where he wanted me to be in five minutes. Out the door.
But it made me realize I was interviewing for the wrong job. So I took a closer look at the movie titled “My future.” I took a temporary secretary’s job while I hustled my writing around town, worked for free a few times, and put together a decent portfolio. And got a job I would do for free. What about you? What do you want to be when you grow up?
Meditation for the Day
“The future is always beginning now.” Mark Strand, The fourth Poet Laureate of the United States
Action for the Day
Today, I’ll give some thought to what I want for my future and stretch my mind to where and when and how to get there. After all, it’s my future. And only I can live it.
[ ]
Comments
Leave a Reply
