A letter from May 25th, 2020

Dear Future Nano, I would like to preface this with the fact that I haven’t written a letter like this since maybe 9th grade. It was for Literary Arts, to see where I’d be as a senior. It’s a shame, obviously you know you switched and so there’s a chance you never see that letter, I guess you’ll find out. As you’re writing this (You’re going to write in 2nd person for the rest of this letter because I think you’ll get a kick out of it.) you’re at the tail end of your senior year. COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is a worldwide pandemic, and you’ve been stuck at home for a couple months now. Hopefully, you’ve forgotten about this by now, but you’re missing all the cool parts of senior year your friends had, so you probably you remember that. You hold grudges easily right now, especially against this country and the powerful, and maybe that shouldn’t change. Next year (hopefully), you’ll be going to Duquesne University for Music Technology (that might change but you’ll find out) and Bass. This comes as a surprise, you didn’t think you were getting to college for a while, let alone living this long. I hope you’re still just as proud of yourself for making it this far. I’m going to respond to some fun prompts, because this preface is almost a whole page and I don’t want this to be a pain for Dr. Pickett to read through. Maybe, you’ll write some more in a separate document. Check for that. How would you describe your look today? Well for a while it’s been strictly pajamas, but for the sake of the assignment you’ll be serious. You like your hair dyed, but laziness makes it so after a couple haircuts you don’t re-dye for a couple months. You like your old green jacket, it’s kind of a safe space for you. Hopefully, next week, Misael will help you patch it up. Some people might describe the “look” as punk, you might even on somedays. That’s not a bad thing. The culture is really something that helped you find a place in the world, and you should never forget that. It won’t really matter how you dress, as long as you remember it’s an extension of yourself, and the most punk thing you can do is be unabashedly be yourself. Maybe you’ll wear more sweaters, you look good in a nice sweater. The most important thing to know, and always know, is are you happy? Right now, you’re happy. Not as happy as you have been the past couple months. Lockdown is hard, you miss your friends. You’re a social person, and I hope you stay that way, but take from this how much you need your alone time. I hope you have a nice porch to sit on and listen to music. You’ve spent so much of your life not being happy, the hope is even if you feel unhappy again, even if you are in five years, you can read this message and remember what happiness feels like. It’s learning a new song, singing in front of your friends, playing a show. It’s writing for the first time in a while to remind yourself you still love it, it’s a hug from a friend, a call from your brother. Happiness doesn’t have to be big, it’s an active decision to capitalize on every good mood you come across. The most important thing in your life right now is learning. If the adults in your life know anything, which is about a 50/50 chance, you will be learning, and you should be learning, every day of your life. Right now, it’s learning how to advance in your music and on your instrument. Learning production, recording, and composition. But you’re also taking a daily journey to learn and grow yourself. Hopefully, you’ll know a little more about that by the time you get this letter, and you’re excited to know what you’ll be learning next. Your happiness is the number one key in life, and to be happy is to make others happy. The only way to know what makes you happy is to learn about yourself, and keep yourself with a purpose. Right now, it’s music, and you hope that sticks, but if it doesn’t know it’ll be because you learned a way to be happier. Stick to your ****, until you feel like changing them. To end this, quickly, I’m going back to 1st person (it sucked writing that out in 2nd but I always stay committed, that’s a good trait to remember from your younger self). Use this message as a reminder when you feel down or lost, or just need a smile to be proud of where you are. I’m excited for you to receive this, hope senior year gets better in the summer. Lots of love, Emiliano at 17, end of senior year.