The other week we looked back to the past and wrote letters to our 16 year-old selves – you can read them or re-read them if you want here. This week we took time out to look forward and wrote letters to the future us. These letters will have their big reveal next year in January.
It was certainly an interesting exercise. Below we each share with you our thoughts and feelings from going through this:
Katherine
When I first floated this idea for blog fodder, I thought it would be a bit of a breeze and was excited to get my teeth in to it. I felt it was a real opportunity for our readers to get to know more about each of us and would also be a really fun to have something to un-earth and revisit next year. A modern day version of a time capsule you did at school all those many years ago!
It was a bit different when I sat down to start and had a blank sheet, of paper in my case, in front of me. Where to even begin! The more I pondered it the more I had writers block – what would I say to me if I were to sit down early next year and have a chat? What would we chat about? What did I really want to say or remind myself of or reminisce over? And what would future me have to say? I did a bit of a mind-map of words and themes that are important to me now and those I’d be interested in finding out more about. With that the words flowed easily. Overall reading my letter back it was positive, very hopeful, kind & loving.
Personally I can’t wait to pick it up next year!
Ruby
I was unfamiliar with the concept of ‘Letters to Future Self’ until Katherine put the idea forward about a month ago. In fact, she suggested at the time we write two letters, one looking back to our 16 year old selves, followed by a letter to our future selves.
The experience of writing to my 16 year-old self seemed effortless, my letter was riddled with beautiful wisdom and love for my young self. It was written in nurturing and caring tone, as if I was my mother was giving me those pearls of wisdom way back then. It was amusing how all this time and experience had past and I was oh so wiser for it. Interestingly, this all changed when it came to write a letter to my future self. The task was met with both curiosity and fear, juxtaposed with excitement and anticipation at the thought of thinking about my life in a years time.
So over a ferry ride home one evening last week, I started to pen some initial thoughts on what the letter might look like. What was I burning to know about my future self? Sitting there and knowing how amazing 2014 has been so far (one month down!) and the big events we had in store, it left me wondering what could really top this?
So instead of putting pressure on myself to envisage the perfect life, I meditated on the idea a little. Rather than being concerned about the future or writing with a lot of hope and aspiration and therefore pressure, I just wrote what I knew to be true right now.
Like the link that Katherine kindly shared when we first initiated the exercise, my letter was focused less on ‘the goal’ and ’ticking the box’ and more on self-love, self-care and my passions. I knew that if I continue each day, inspired as I am now, there would be nothing to worry about for my future.
[su_spacer]
