This June, a handful of our staff members are moving to different places within the city, myself included. Moving is always a thing—daunting, exciting, expensive—and so I try to keep myself together by remembering that the day after moving day you're where you're supposed to be. The next phase of your life begins.
I'm looking forward to where I'm moving, but I know I'm going to miss the park near my apartment, just a couple blocks away. When I have felt stuck inside my apartment, I have been able to easily pop outside for a walk around the park. There are benches and tables, beautiful trees, and good people and dog watching. It's even beautiful at night for stargazing at times.
In this moment of personal transition, it's easy to get overwhelmed. There is so much to do, checklists and things to follow through on… And when my thinking becomes an endless loop of these responsibilities yet to complete, I make myself stop and go outside.
There in the park, I pull up at one of the orange tables and think about what my future life is about to be like. Not the things I have to do, but the person I will be and the struggles I will overcome. I envision my ideal life, even if it's a frivolous fantasy, and write down what it will be like in full detail. Do you ever do things like that?
Before the pandemic, at a weekly tarot reading group, someone offered to bring in paper and envelopes for us to write messages to our future selves, which they graciously offered to mail out 6 months later in time for the summer solstice. It was quite a powerful little exercise, and so simple, too. The things I wrote then as wishes had become real. Have you ever received a message that a past you sent your future self?
So, with all this in mind, I'd like to encourage you, dear reader, to take a moment of seeming frivolity, and to write a supportive and detailed message to your future self, no matter how fantastic or outlandish it seems at the time. Tuck it away for a later date, or keep it with you as encouragement. You may be surprised at how quickly once-fantasies turn to reality.
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