Sweat drips down my Caucasian cheek as a bright key light burns my retinas in an otherwise dimly lit studio. I uncomfortably adjust myself in a creaky wooden chair and yell “CUT! That was a great take everyone, let’s take five and we’ll do the last scene for today.” It’s been a long but rewarding journey, and the L.A. heat is getting to me, but this production is going to be worth it. You see It’s around 2030 and I am a decently successful Indie filmmaker on the cusp of something big. My Star Wars, or my Jaws, some big blockbuster that I have no right directing but have managed to convince a studio to back. 

Maybe…

Water that feels more like liquid nitrogen peppers my thick parka as I wrestle a gargantuan albacore tuna onto the S.S. Pablo Danger. The piercing fresh air of the open sea fills my lungs as I marvel over my catch. Where am I? Alaska. Why? OK I’m not really sure but I feel like it would be fun to live a simple life as a fisherman, you know like those guys on Wicked Tuna. I admit this might be a bit of a stretch considering I have no nautical experience, but hey maybe I could spend a summer learning my knots.

 Something else…

“We would love to welcome you to the 111th Academy Awards.” Winners are announced, category after category. Finally they get to the best picture. “And the Oscar goes to… [Insert Aaron Oppenheim’s Film Title Here].” I can’t believe it, I really just got an Oscar, and for best picture no less. Joy washes over me like no other high I’ve felt as I stumble through an ocean of celebrities to the stage. “I could have only ever dreamt of this moment. I would like to thank one man and one man only, my college English Professor Mr. Freeman, forget my parents!” I drop the mic as a boom of applause rattles the auditorium. I walk off with a death grip on my little golden statuette of glory. 

It might not go like that but you get the gist.

In all honesty, I have no idea where my future will lead. I hate the idea that I will spend the rest of my life dedicated to just one thing. I want to experience as many things as I can with my time on this planet. Right now, yeah, my main focus is on film and I plan to create all of the stories I dream of, but who knows how long that will last. Maybe I want to be on Wicked Tuna! Who knows! All I know and all I can hope is that my future and all the time I have to explore the most niche facets of earth doesn’t get wasted. Here’s to living all fourteen million, six hundred, and five futures.