V for Vendetta

Ah - a wonderful movie. Last year around this time I was home for Spring Break and Daniel said to me, "Have you not seen V for Vendetta yet? Oh, you will love it! It will be "our" movie!" So we drove down to Dillons and rented it, and he was right - it was very good.

To be sure, there was a not-so-subtle political agenda. However, it had great music, and it was a thinker. You know, those movies that make you think about life and philosophy and the world.

So a year later, I still think about it. I think my life is finally catching up to the movie.

I can't quite remember the song - but I know there were strings, dramatic strings, and a drum beat driving everything. Near the end of the movie, one of the detectives stops and sums everything up. He says he feels like everything's been building toward something, and it's about to erupt. While he speaks, pictures flash of events in the movie, including parts of the movie that are yet to come.

I feel like that's how my life is right now. My movie may have 15 minutes left, or it may still have an hour until the dramatic finish. I may be V who dies tragically, or I may be Natalie Portman's character, who lives to start a new world. Either way - I can hear the drums.

When I came to Chicago, I started looking back at a weird series of events that had led me here, and I feel I made the, erroneous, conclusion that I was supposed to live here. However, I wonder if this is still just one more step in the multitudes of steps I have to take. One more screenshot of a key event leading me to something.

It all started with an internship - or lack thereof, I suppose. For the first time in my 20 years, my spirit broke. And then, when I did get an internship - a puny little private accounting internship at Raytheon, I felt let down. There was no "Higher purpose" in it, no "open windows."

Years later, as I looked for a job, my interest in Austin narrowed down the field to two firms - and somehow I picked the one that wasn't for me. That firm led me to Chicago.

And now I feel as though I see the next stepping stone ahead of me. Like the detective in the movie who knew something was coming but couldn't quite pin down the time or place, I know that once again I'm being pulled.

What I see is my dream becoming a reality. I have the opportunity to audit a pharmaceutical client in Kansas City - which means I may be on the path I've always preferred - of becoming a "pharmaceutical guru."

It seems for us auditors that our professional development can be tied to doing an international rotation. Here the drums start again. Through inquiries, I have discovered that my pharmaceutical clients lie in England, Ireland - places that I could see, would love to see, and that, conveniently, speak my native tongue. Through Chicago I have met a contact in the Dublin office - he likes me well enough. Could he open the door to that opportunity?

The funny thing is, it's years away, and I could be jumping ahead of myself. The detective in the movie didn't "see" the scenes from the future that the audience did. He didn't have that ability. And neither can I see the future. But perhaps there are other ways a person can be pulled upon.

I don't have to go overseas to feel as though this drumbeat is real. The desire to - the decision to - the resolve to - it's enough. Circumstances may change. But feeling that it's something I need to do - that's a big step. And I don't feel like I would feel that way if I hadn't come to Chicago.

And so remains the final question - when does the 1812 Overture play?