A Meeting of My Mind

Characters

Andreya – A 26-year-old woman, plus sized, big curly hair, dressed comfortably in everyday pandemic-wear. Self-aware and highly vocal.

Dre- A 27-year-old, future version of Andreya, dressed in casual, comfortable, everyday clothes. Semi-omniscient but tight-lipped when regarding need-to-know information.

Setting: A small one-bedroom apartment. The front door is located upstage right near the small kitchen and breakfast bar. There is an exit to the right which leads to the bedroom and bathroom. A couch sits center with an armchair to the left. There is a desk and a window against the left wall and a tv stand to the right. The apartment is mostly clean, but lived in.

Lights up.

Andreya lays on the sofa, scrolling through Instagram when she hears a knock at the door. She immediately becomes on high alert. She slowly and silently puts down her phone and cautiously approaches the front door and looks through the peephole. Relieved at the sight, she answers the door.

Andreya: Jesus, a text would have been nice. You scared me half to death.

Dre: Sorry, my service doesn’t work outside space and time. Here ya go.

Dre sends a text from her phone. Andreya’s phone dings.

Andreya: (sarcastically) Gee, thanks. Please come in.

Dre: As you know, another year is here.

Andreya: Yeah, I have a bone to pick with you about that. In last year’s meeting you didn’t mention the ginormous shit show that everyone was going to go through! What the fuck!

Dre: You know the rules, I can’t reveal any future details that are not specific to you and your actions. I’m a not a fucking swami. I am just here for you.

Andreya: Whatever, I still feel like you should have given me a heads up.

Dre: Listen do you want to keep living in the past or look towards the future? Because that’s why I’m here.

Andreya: Fine go ahead.

Dre: (excited) 2021 is literally going to be the best year that you’ve had in recent past.

Andreya: That’s what you said last year.

Dre: Was 2020 not, in hindsight, a great year for you?

Andreya: I mean…

Dre: Alright then, shut up. This year, you are going to graduate from college. Finally!

Andreya: I was looking forward to that, I mean I hate online classes, but there’s only two, and if I fail those, I’d figuratively kill myself.

Dre: And you are going to move in with your best friend after graduation!

Andreya: Daisy? I don’t see that happening.

Dre: No, silly. Mauricyo.

Andreya: (whispers) Shh…don’t say that out loud. She’ll get jealous. (performative) Yes, my good close friend Mauricyo? Wow, moving in with him? What an unforseeable surprise!

Dre: She isn’t even here, chill out.

Andreya: But she’ll find out you said that! She’ll know!

Dre: And you’re going to start a podcast this year.

Andreya: (surprised) I am? Is it going to be any good? Is it going to give me name recognition and a steady income with fans who love and support me?

Dre: That’s up to you and whether or not you stick with it and get to that place.

Andreya: (sarcastically) That’s a helpful answer.

Dre: It’s an honest answer.

Andreya: Am I going to start my cross-platform multimedia project that I have been mulling over for the better part of last year?

Dre: Perhaps, if you continue on this path.

Andreya: So, no?

Dre: It’s a possibility. There are infinite universes in which you accomplish a myriad of different things. From the path you are currently on, whose foundations were built on the choices you’ve made and things you’ve learned so far in your life, it is a possibility. However, nothing is set in stone.

Andreya: How do you know I am going to do anything you’ve said so far?

Dre: Because that is the path that you’re on. They are the next steps in your story, although you do have the power to change them if that’s what you want to do.

Andreya: No, I like the sound of them.

Dre: Good.

Andreya: What about relationships with my parents? What about my mom? Is she going to be okay?

Dre: I can’t tell you that, either. But I will say that you have set into motion a new type of relationship with them that is very new and, like everything else in your life, has endless possibilities of growth.

Andreya: (beat) Okay.

Dre: I see the wheels turning in your head. You still follow?

Andreya: It’s just kind of hard to wrap my brain around this weird Schrodinger’s future you’ve presented me in which I both accomplish and don’t accomplish the things I want.

Dre: Funny how life works, huh?

Andreya: What about my hobbies? Am I going to keep learning astrology and tarot and stuff? Am I going to get even better at it? Am I going to keep writing?

Dre: Yes.

Andreya: Hell yeah!

Dre: If you put the time and effort into doing so.

Andreya: That same old thing.

Dre: You can’t expect to get better at anything if you don’t work hard at it.

Andreya: Why didn’t you teach me that lesson as a kid! Everything always came so easy to me then!

Dre: That question is above my paygrade and not about the future.

Andreya: So, I am going to start a podcast, move in with my friend, graduate college, all in a pandemic. How do we expect me to afford any of that with no job?

Dre: You’ll find one.

Andreya: Where?

Dre: Obviously, where you’ll be living.

Andreya: When?

Dre: Sometime in 2021.

Andreya: (frustrated) Doing what?

Dre: Spoilers, Katniss.

Andreya: What?

Dre: I can’t tell you.

Andreya: (frustrated) Well, then what good are you?!

Dre: I am going to let that slide because I know you are stressed about money right now. Listen, it is all going to be okay. Everything is going to work out exactly as it should, when it should. What did we learn in 2020?

Andreya: (wearily) Divine timing is a thing. I can’t rush anything. I can only focus on positivity and manifesting good things for my future.

Dre: And that, My Dear Self, is the answer to all of your success. The specific tactics you use to get somewhere are ever changing, but the fact that you figured that part out? You’re truly capable of anything. We don’t always know what is good for us or what we want. We don’t know the outcome of our lives because we haven’t seen them yet, but you know what you need to do to accomplish what you want. It’s inside of you. You just need to get out of your own way.

Andreya: How do I do that?

Dre: That I actually can answer.

Andreya: YOU CAN? WHY HAVEN’T YOU SAID SOMETHING ALREADY?

Dre: You didn’t ask the right question.

Andreya: This is fun for you, isn’t it?

Dre: Just a little.

Andreya: Fine, can you please tell me some ways I will be able to accomplish my goals without actually telling me what those outcomes will be?

Dre: Certainly!

Andreya gets a notification and picks up her phone to check it. She continues to use it.

Dre: One of the first things you are going to have to do is give yourself a break. You know as well as I do that you are the hardest person on yourself. You make it look like it’s your dad, but it really is you.

Andreya: But isn’t that just because he raised me in an environment in which I felt my work was never good enough?

Dre: That is something you will have to figure out for yourself. There is also more self-actualization and self-evaluation that will happen this year. Some really good shadow work stuff is in store.

Andreya: I am both glad to hear that and am fully dreading it. I love feeling the emotional weight lifted, but all the crying is super exhausting.

Dre: It’s worth it, though.

Andreya: I guess!

Dre: The second thing you need to do is—

Andreya: Oh my god, look at this picture of this puppy! He’s got a little bacon mustache!

Dre: —find a way to get your undiagnosed ADHD symptoms managed.

Andreya: That is literally the hardest thing for me. I hate it.

Dre: I know, and it’s just because you haven’t figured it out yet.

Andreya: I either get too distracted or overly obsessed with something, overwhelmed, and then I just drop it. Aside from my crippling fear of failure, that is really the only thing holding me back.

Dre: That brings me to my next point. Burn out. Do not burn yourself out.

Andreya: But I’m a Capricorn!

Dre: Yes, you are. You are ambitious, unafraid of hard work, and stubborn as all hell.

Andreya: (proudly) Thank you.

Dre: But using that as an excuse is bullshit and you know it.

Andreya: But I—

Dre: Burning yourself out is going to be end off all your goals and will leave you beating yourself for not accomplishing anything because you refused to let yourself.

Andreya: Well, damn.

Dre: Make a plan with realistic tasks that are easy to accomplish, and then stop.

Andreya: But what if I am feeling really inspired?

Dre: Write down your ideas or record them and save them for another time.

Andreya: But I—

Dre: If those ideas are truly great, they will be there the next day.

Andreya: But what if I—

Dre: But what if you what?

Andreya: (beat) I’m not sure, I assumed you were going to interrupt me again.

Dre: Make a list, choose one thing to focus on at a time, and don’t spread yourself too thin. You aren’t running out of time. You will be okay.

Andreya takes a deep breath.

Dre: Everything will happen when it is meant to happen.

Andreya: Okay. I think I get it. Anything else?

Dre: Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Andreya: (frustrated) I had a feeling you were going to say that.

Dre: You know it’s true. You have been actively avoiding it for years.

Andreya: It’s just so hard!

Dre: Is it though? You can’t do everything by yourself. You can’t know everything. Your pride, ego, and need for control make you think you can, but where has that gotten you so far? (beat) That’s what I thought.

Andreya: Fine, I'll try.

Dre: That’s the first step! It’s a hard one, but you’ve already shown signs of it. I think you’ll be alright.

Andreya: Graduation, podcast, job, new address. Giving myself a break, getting my short attention span in line, asking for help, not burning myself out.

Dre: That’s the gist of it.

Andreya: That’s all for 2021?

Dre: Of course not! It is going to a year full of love, laughs, and new experiences. The world might be a crazy fucking place as you see it now, but there is endless light and positivity in the world still and you will be around to experience it. Cherish these moments and create memories. Life is great when we feel accomplished and proud of something we have created, but the times in between, the people who are there when plans don’t work out, the beauty around us that fills every other moment, those are the things that truly make life worth living. So, go into 2021 with an open heart and a willingness to embrace the good.

Andreya: Will that make me happy?

Dre: Well, I doubt it will make you sad.

Andreya: Very funny.

Dre: Any other questions?

Andreya: Will I find love?

Dre: Do you want to?

Andreya: I don’t know.

Dre: Then, neither do I.

Andreya: Will I find self-love?

Dre: That’s an ever-harder question. But if you ask me–

Andreya: I did.

Dre: IF YOU ASK ME, you are well on your way there.

Andreya: (beat) Okay.

Dre: That’s it?

Andreya: Well, can you tell me anything else?

Dre: Not particularly.

Andreya: I guess that’s it then. Thank you, this actually really helped.

Dre: Wait, so you’re just good with all of that.

Andreya: Yeah...should I not be?

Dre: No, I mean, I'm glad you are, but last year, you wouldn’t have taken any of this as an answer. You really have changed.

Andreya: Thanks for noticing. I don’t know, I just feel at ease. It’s hard to describe, but I feel really ready for the year ahead. The things you say will happen have been desires of mine for years, so knowing I am on the brink of making them happen is exciting and motivating. I am ready for the next chapter of my life.

Dre: I’m glad to hear that.

Andreya: Thanks a lot, really.

Dre: You’re welcome. If that’s all, I have to get back to my own time. 2022 me is set to show up at anytime.

Andreya: Is she as informative as you are?

Dre: Less so. It’s infuriating.

Andreya: Welcome to the club.

They hug. Andreya walks Dre to the door.

Andreya: See you next year? Or in a minute? How does space and time travel work?

Dre: Wouldn’t you like to know.

Andreya closes the door.

Dre: (off-stage) Oh! And don’t forget to drink water. And stop spending so much money on Starbucks.

Andreya: Sorry I can’t hear you; the door is too thick. Byeeee!!

Blackout.