The Lighthouse on My Wrist
On uncertainty, ambition, and self-trust
It’s December 2025. I’m sitting on a bench in Domino Park, the Statue of Liberty faint in the distance.
A few days earlier, I learned that I was being let go from my job. I walked through Domino Park like someone visiting a friend before leaving town. I had no idea where I’d be a few months from now, let alone a year.
I check the time on my watch, which I bought for myself on my 28th birthday. It had a lighthouse on the dial — but I’d rather have a plain dial if I’m being honest.
Then a man walks up to me.
The “Lighthouse” watch
He’s wearing a tweed overcoat with thick-framed sunglasses and a knit scarf that obscures his face. There’s an Italian word, sprezzatura, meaning effortless style. This guy embodied sprezzatura.
“Hi James,” he greets me.
“Hi… do I know you?” I ask.
“I heard you were going through a tough time. I just want to check up on you.”
“What? How did you know that?” People always warned me of the risks of sharing my life online. Did he read my writing and track me down?
“You really don’t recognize me?”
“Bro, you’re covering your entire face, I can’t even see you,” I say to him, a bit annoyed.
“You have a point.” He takes off his scarf, then takes off his sunglasses.
As he reveals his face, I stare closely, astonished. I instantly recognize who he is. But I can’t believe it.
“Seems like you know who I am now,” he says with a confident smile.
The face, the hair, the style. It was unmistakable. “You’re me.”
“I’m you five years into the future. I’m 33-year-old you. And I felt like you needed my help. Mind if I sit?”
“No, go ahead.”
He sits down beside me, crossing his legs and resting his arms along the back of the bench. We share a moment of silence.
“You know, I didn’t think I’d get fired from my job,” I tell him. “It sucks. But I wanted to quit my job to focus on my writing and community. Now that I’m here, I see the mountain ahead of me. Some days, I wake up, and I ask myself if I can really do it. Sometimes I think ambition is a curse.”
My older self nods.
“We don’t get to choose what’s within our hearts,” he says. “But once it’s inside of you, you have to decide what you’re going to do with it.”
He pauses for a moment.
“I also wanted to see you today because I’m grateful to you. I’m not much different from you; I know you can tell that, too.
But you want to know what the big difference is between your life and mine?
I’m living a life that’s fully aligned with my values. And it’s all thanks to the work you put in.”
I feel my chest tighten.
“Is there anything else you want to know?”
“Are you married now? Do you have kids?”
My older self smiles.
“I can’t tell you everything; some things are for you to find out.”
He stands up.
“Alright, I’ve got to go.”
“Wait, there’s so much I want to ask you.”
He steps forward and hugs me, a warm, reassuring embrace.
“The next five years are going to be damn tough, but all those challenges are going to help you grow into the man standing right in front of you today.
Whenever you’re feeling uncertain, I want you to look at this…”
He clasps my right hand and places an object in it.
“And remember that when you feel lost, the answer lies within.”
I feel its weight in my hand as I watch him walk away.
***
My eyes open, I rub the crust off my eyes, the warm December sun peeking into my Williamsburg apartment.
I lie there. Dazed. Unsure if what I just experienced was a dream or not.
I looked over at my bedside table, 8:21am. My lighthouse watch sits beside my alarm clock. It called for me.
I sat up in bed, and I picked up the watch. Something about it felt different compared to when I last wore it. I ran my fingers across the dial, my eyes landing on the familiar image of the lighthouse, a beacon for safety and direction for sailors and seafarers of years past. I stared at the lighthouse for a good minute, then I started to tear up.
For weeks prior, I’d show my friends this watch. How I love the proportions, the gold-plated dial, the black leather strap, how I love everything about this watch but that damn cheesy lighthouse.
Now, the lighthouse was the one detail that made this watch special.
broooooooo this was really good
Damn good writing my friend!