Growing up I never had a plan and certainly wasn’t one to change my desired profession willy-nilly from firefighter to astronaut like most young boys; I just lived day to day.

One without ambition has to wind up without success, right? This is the way we were taught. My father was and still is a master diesel mechanic, oft-explained by a few peers, much like Luke Skywalker amongst once great Jedi. But that kind of job never appealed to me, and it isn’t the fact that it’s dirty, hands-on work, but it’s a job with a plain ceiling.

In a typical job, once you master the skills (and the motions), the world seems distant. You typically fall into a sinking wooden ship staring out of a small porthole watching the world advance from pirates to jet skis. This kind of life is nothing to be ashamed of, far from it. A profession such as diesel machinery is a hard job, both mentally and physically demanding. But to me, that is the feeling: the job is just a job. I need something more.

My dream job relies on giving others hope, igniting those same dreams in others, giving them the blueprints for their next nautical evolution. I’m not speaking of pretension, but of passion. Something I “lacked” as a child.

So you may be asking yourself what I did as a child. I sat inside playing games and watching movies- and when I didn’t do that I was outside, living adventures without the standard limits parents would construct.

Most days we’d be home alone until my father returned from work. Life wasn’t like it is today: kids were left to their own devices when they played. We didn’t have digital ankle bracelets in our back pockets, we had imagination.

We’d spend the day in brooks, trails, and in our minds- creating a narrative to combat the boredom. And we’d win. So naturally, when the question continued to hammer into me as I entered high school, (What do you want to be when you “grow up?”), it was simple. I want to make movies.

The rollercoaster of emotion movies put me on was something that no other medium, or person, could ever achieve. I cry more in movies than I do when people close to me pass. It’s nothing “wrong” with me, I’m just the emotional rock to those around me. But when I enter a movie, I leave my passion in the hands of deft filmmakers– all who contribute to the film: cinematographer, actors, director, composer– they are the ones who can illicit an emotional response from me. And I want that.

I want to share it. The raw energy generated out of a film experience. It invigorates the soul, drives creativity, and ambition. There’s no other job for me. Watching movies like A New Hope give me just that. And not only Star Wars but every single film that will be a part of my upcoming series beginning week one of the new year: #52Pick-Up. I’ll explain why I love a movie (or movie series) each week, and how it shaped who I became, and why I love what I love.

The most recent film that has bestowed upon me renewed hope is Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I’m elated an hour out and will be for years to come. This is why I love movies; it’s why I am who I am, and the medium will continue to shape me as I “Grow Up.”

-Jamie (@GuyOnAWire)

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Follow Jamie as he continues on his mission, and his movie-watching saga, the #DLMChallenge and more such as #52Pick-Up.