Part of the fun of the Blogenning is having people get to decide what one of your posts that week should be about. Some weeks it’s incredibly easy, some weeks you have nothing to say about that subject and just have to roll with it. This week it’s my turn to choose the topic, and we’re going to be writing a letter to be delivered to ourselves a decade in the past.
Hi Brandon,
If you’re reading this you’re not going to believe who it’s from. You’ve written a few letters to me for school assignments, but probably never thought you’d get one back.
I know this letter will find you well, even if you don’t think so. This winter was pretty rough, huh? Gramps passed away and you’ve had to deal with the loss of someone close to you the first time. Well, it will be many years before you have to deal with it again, so chin up buddy.
I know High School is still a bit odd for you. A year from now you’ll start to hit your stride, and then it’s off to college in Boston! You’re gonna go through the whole deal of feeling out of place again, but for hopefully the last time. In about 5 years you’ll really start to figure things out. You’ll have made a few incredible friends, and will soon be making a whole bunch more. You’ll actually enjoy being social. You’ll be less afraid to let people see who you are and be more comfortable in yourself. Things are going to be pretty awesome, but you’re going to have to tough it out.
You’re going to lose your faith in a lot of things, but it will come back in different ways. Lots of stuff is going to change, but life will continue on.
I remember walking in your shoes all those years ago, but it feels today like you’re a different person entirely. The things that mattered then, with a few notable exceptions, no longer matter. The things you worry about will work themselves out, and your propensity to worry will go away. You’ll stop thinking about how your life should go, and start enjoying how your life is actually going.
There are a few things about yourself that you will be shocked to learn, but it will be more important for you to find those out for yourself, so I won’t go in to them in detail.
Follow your heart, and your head, and listen to your friends when they give you good advice. Don’t be scared to try and don’t be scared to fail. Be scared of not having the chance to fail.
In 5 days from when you recieve this, if this whole thing works correctly, the entire world is going to change. Something unbelievable is going to happen, and no one will see it coming. There’s nothing you can do about it. That’s not how this message-through-time thing works. Keep your head about you, and don’t get caught in the furvor. Do your best to keep an open, accepting, and loving mind. Make yourself available for those who need you, but remember to take care of yourself too.
Go and read “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater” by Kurt Vonnegut. If you don’t have time, you’ll get to it in college, but there’s a passage you need to read:
Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies – “God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
Take care of yourself. Actually, I know you will.
– B
Extant Musings 