Grace+Co’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2016

__**In Futurum **__ My speech is a little different then the others we have heard, because ultimately, despite my other interests, I am first and for most a poet, and this speech reflects that. The future. The future of Ventura, of California, of America, of the world. The future. That’s what stands before us, the never-ending, ever widening future. And someday we are going to live in it, of course then it will be the present and then a moment later the past. Because that is how time works, the moment you grasp it, it’s gone. Time is fickle like that. So all we can do is keep chugging forward reaching for the future, living in the present, while remembering the past. The question we are supposed to answer today is what future do you want to live in, what kind of world do you want to create? And to be perfectly honest, I have absolutely no idea. Because I can’t even begin to imagine what it will be like, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now. The same way my parents could never see the future (that is now the present) that //they// were headed towards. There are so many variables to contend with, that we are constantly being blindsided by in the present, how are we ever supposed to have any idea what the future will hold. How can we have any idea what it will be like? And I know that is not exactly the question I supposed to be answering, that I’m supposed to be talking about the future I WANT to live in, not the one that is going to happen. But don’t worry, I am getting there, it will make sense soon, be patient. The puritans who arrived in America all those years ago had no idea what was in store for the continent they were landing on. They would never have predicted the world we live in today, and to be honest they would have hated it with a burning passion. But from our perspective, we are living a better life, more freedom of religion, speech, longer and more fulfilling lives, and way better technology. Society has changed with the advancements, with time, what the past wanted isn’t what the future wants or even what the present wants. So how can I, in 2016, have any idea of what I will want in 50 something years’ time. The older me will be a different person then the person I am now, because of life experiences and sometimes just time. And she will be living in a world that will probably be nothing like I ever imagined. So the answer is, I can’t. I have absolutely no idea of the future I want to live in. I have an idea of the present I want to live in. I am not saying that there aren’t things I want to change, oh there certainly are. But those are things my present self wants, for the present. But I am not going to be so //assumptious// to believe that I know exactly what my future self will want. Because I am not her, not yet. And to be honest, I don’t want to have an idea for what future holds. Because then life will surprise me. Because then when life will ultimately turn out differently that what I imagined, for better or for worse, it will not so easily disappoint me. And it would get awfully boring if everything ended up exactly how you wanted it, because then what do you do? I guess, there is one thing however, that I want in the future. One opinion of mine that I don’t think will change (Well who knows).But I will say it anyways. I want humanity to keep reaching for the future, to keep changing and adapting with the times. To keep shoving their way forward into a new age. Because the world will never be perfect, the future will never be exactly what we wanted. But by trying to make the world a better place, by trying and failing to make it perfect. That is what makes the future great.