Here we are.
12 years later.
The suggestion is to write a letter to your future self; no specific time frame; but typically no longer than a decade long or more waiting period of “don’t open the capsule until XX date.” I think I assumed for letters it is more of 1 - 5 years, maybe?
My actual letter to myself was written in 2018. I’m not going to open it though, because I remember the gist of what I wrote and it’s not good.
The last journal I wrote was 12 years ago, so that feels like a more accurate starting place for my future self of today.
The intention of letters to self or journals is the optimistic belief that upon reflection things will look different, and the majority being a good different. “Oh look how much I have changed and evolved, look at what I accomplished.” Or maybe it’s recognizing the mistakes, what was learned, how failures turned into success(es) or built resilience - that strong ability to overcome and survive.
It usually falls into the above descriptions if you’re even speaking it into the present. Otherwise the key is to avoid, because it’s a nasty reminder that doesn’t make much sense in revisiting since it’s going make us feel worse than we already do. That’s what we tell ourselves, but your therapist probably disagrees. Exception is unless this is evidence to fuel why one might be giving up entirely. Giving up can look like a lot of things, but going down that rabbithole is going to result in a wellness check (if you are vocal about it and need to leave a reason).
Anyway, I digress, because the truth is, you don’t talk about the outcome showing the same overdone story on repeat, a adulterated abortion of Groundhogs day. The cycle is just long enough that it seems different than the last, but looking at the whole picture, the results are the same, just twisted enough to look new and fresh, to convince you of movement, progress even. Look again: yes, the specifics are unique, the take on it IS fresh, but underneath it all, the story is the same, with a shiny coat of “hellish mutation” paint that fools you just enough to believe otherwise.
The journey is the best part because the destination is death, and fast forward is not built into the tape. Rewind is, but the winding function is broken and instead now two or three or four parts of the tape reel got spliced together into some horrendous overdone version of our own reality TVs survivor, the bachelor, and [insert baking show here]
The best advice I found to be accurate, is to take it all as a random sets of events that are occurring with me, around me, in spite of me, and to me. There was never a button to control the procession, order, or outcome, so best collect them as experiences in a tightly sealed jar. Leave it for the next reincarnation.
Who said there was a purpose? Seriously, someone had to have said that to put that idea in our heads.
Life is a collection of events perceived in an infinite amount of ways that are seen and unseen. With the ability of memories we weave together a narrative and causally give these reasoning a purpose.
“Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. Everybody’s gonna die. Come watch TV”
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