♪ [1940's music] ♪
[NARRATOR] Let's look in on America's perfect family - the Joneses.
Why, just look at their amazing life!
Safe, secure jobs.
Social respect and admiration.
A growing family.
Home ownership!
New model cars.
And a gourmet kitchen.
Yes, the Joneses are living proof that if we're willing to follow the same trusted path...
[RECORD SCRATCH]
What! How did we ever buy into that myth?
Since we have been young, we have been indoctrinated to follow a prescribed formula.
You have to get a degree...
...and get the best job that you can.
...the white picket fence...
...the big-screen TV...
...2.5 kids...
...the babe, the boat, the bucks. The job, the six figures.
Work for forty, fifty years...and then retire.
I did all of the things that were expected of me...
...at the expense of my dreams.
Every Monday I would walk on the beach, and put my iPod in, and wonder what was wrong with me.
I was like: I live by the beach. I have a great job, all this money. I'm so lucky right now.
And yet, I'm freaking miserable.
And I was on the road 3 to 4 days a week.
And I just remember thinking: I did not sign up to be a single parent.
Every single day, I would come home and I would
tell Betsy, I'm like, I cannot do this anymore. I cannot do this. I can't do this anymore.
When you're climbing the ladder and you get to the top
and you realize you have it leaned up against the wrong wall.
I didn't even know what the right wall was.
And I'm 32 and it, it feels like I should have that...figured out.
These people DO live these lives of quiet desperation. They WISH things were different.
They need Life to shake them and say, "Wake the F[bleep] up!"
"This is not the way you've got to live!"
"There's something better out there."
♪ ♪
♪ [5 FILMMAKERS] ♪
♪ [10,000+MILES] ♪
It's only when you start making choices for yourself
that you can live your OWN dreams instead of the American dream.
I'd be happy, but I would not know what it would be like to keep this happening.
♪
I don't know what's around the corner for me.
I have never been so fulfilled not knowing.
♪