Today in class

In class we had to mention a bunch of "what ifs".

One of those that I suggested is,"What if your future self could speak to your younger self?"

The idea came from reading the book "What I Know Now: Letters to My Younger Self". The book takes many successful women, gives a short history on their life, and then the letter that they wrote to their younger selves.

I cant say all entries were worth the read but a few stood out. When I think of what I could be saying now to my teenage self, I'd have this well thought out, and "better" plan of doing things. While I was mowing the lawn I thought about it in detail...

• Graduate high school your junior year and immediately enroll into community college. Get your basics out of the way! When you are done with that go to MSU, build an art portfolio, go to advanced art schools in California.


• At any cost, do not fall in love with "what's his name". But do take advantage of his resources.


• Don't get tied up with the BIG questions right now. Also, forget relationships, seriously, they don't make the world go round.

But just how much of my past or who I am today, would have been compromised if such a thing could happen? Would I have ever moved to Arizona, or Hawaii? How would my relationships or friendships look like?

Can I guarantee that life would be better?

I guess it depends on your amount of regret. Sometimes I regret that my life had not been more predictable or traditional. Had I not so many obstacles and personal challenges to overcome I could have succeeded at other things.

Maybe my message from the future would not be so detail or goal oriented. Maybe I could be more like some wise Yoda, offering up fortune cookie messages that anyone could pull from some lame astrological sign post.

Maybe I wouldn't offer advice or wisdom at all. Perhaps I'd be a kinder friend to my younger self in those times of uncertainty. I'd brush my twenty-something self off and drag her to fun places, offer her book suggestions, and tease about upcoming movies that occur ten years from now.

Could it be that everything happened exactly as it was supposed to? Could we dare to have faith in something like that? Could my future self of 60 years old be smiling at me right now as I type this, whispering in my ear that the best is yet to come?

I hope so... I really hope so.