Throwing out my backup plan...

When I was in college my sister got me into the show, Dawson's Creek. I only watched the first season, but I loved it and always wanted to go back and watch the entire series. Well, now, thanks to netflix, I can, and am currently on the very last DVD. Unfortunately, I have found that the show pretty much peaked the first two seasons; however, now that I've started, I am dedicated to finishing it out, no matter how painful.

Today's episode actually sparked my interest for a brief second. It was a scene featuring a conversation between Dawson and his mother. Dawson, for those who actually have lives, has wanted to be a film director basically from birth. At this point, he has dropped out of film school and is back living at home. His mom asks him, "how do you intend to make money in the long term? What's your plan?" When he tells her his plan is to complete his screenplay and sell it, she looks uncomfortable and says, "I mean what's your backup plan? If directing doesn't work. Making a living as a film director is a one in a million chance. Now, I know you don't wanna hear this, but... you need to be practical. It's not always about what you want. Dawson, you grow up, and life isn't what you thought it was going to be like when you were a kid."

To this, Dawson wisely replies, "I don't have a backup plan... and I won't ever have one. I'm going to be a director, and I don't want to have anything to fall back on, because there's nothing else that I want to do. And you're right, being a director is a child's dream, and that's how I know that it's real. Because it's what I wanted to do before I knew how to be scared or cynical."

So, I asked my husband if his parents ever had this conversation with him about his career in music. He said no. To which I replied, "good, because I wouldn't want to have to punch them in the face."


Insects and animals just follow their inner inclinations. They never question what they are here to do. So, why do we?