Having a late-September birthday has always led me to think about the future at this time of year, as the calendar winds down and the cold, grey hand of death creeps ever closer —which is my melodramatic way of handling what normal people just call “getting cold out.”

I almost remember a time where the future felt so far away. I couldn’t wait to be older, richer, independent, or whatever idealized version of my future self I had. Jump ahead several decades, and it seems like time is speeding up. Psychologists say routine causes the brain to gloss over repetitive days, making us feel time has vanished in the blink of an eye.

Some of us might remember the movie Grease. Released in 1978, it got nostalgic about 1959, only 19 years in the past at the time. That movie came out 48 years ago. The year 2050 is just 24 years from now. As Dr. Seuss famously asked: “How did it get so late so soon?”

I have a certain gift to predict the near future. For example, I predict we will have a significant snowfall the week before I put winter tires on my car (although that might be cheating, because I probably won’t think of it until the weather event). I could make a prediction about the Leafs, but who wants to be wrong 59 years in a row?

It’s hard to believe, but the next municipal election is in 2030. That used to seem far away. Now, 2030 is one of those benchmark numbers with hundreds of predictions by futurists. In the Terminator franchise, it is the year John Connor goes back in time to save humanity from artificial intelligence (which doesn’t sound like a bad idea).

According to Star Trek history, World War III spans roughly from 2026 to 2053, meaning the conflict is actively underway throughout the 2030s, involving severe geopolitical fractures and ecological crises. Hmm. Sound familiar?

The United Nations chose 2030 as a target year for 17 sustainability goals, including improved wealth distribution and a reduction in poverty and hunger. But progress on eradicating extreme poverty has completely stalled.

Locally, planning figures call for 6,500 new homes in Kawartha Lakes by 2031, and a population of 130,000 by 2050 (which is only 24 years away!). In the most recent election, only mayoral candidate Mathew Flynn mentioned the 2030s or 2050s. He had the most coherent, non-platitudinal platform of the candidates. His extremely detailed positions pointed to a possible political future, and the exact future-facing energy we need in an elected council and civil service.

We need more people like Mathew — elected officials and citizens alike. We need vision-based leadership. As entrepreneur Peter Diamandis noted, “You either seize the future or it happens to you.”