A letter from Jan 25, 2025

Dear future me, I hope you’re doing better. I know you won’t be all that different from me a year ago, but I hope you’re less stressed about everything. I know you make your friends worried by being sad so often, so being less sad would be good. I’m not expecting some grand salvation down the line, but if life feels a bit easier for both me and the people I care about, that would be enough. I hope you’ve kept your attention long enough to finish one book. I hope you’re less angry. Less jealous of people who seem better than you. I want the best for you—maybe because you don’t exist yet. If you did, maybe I wouldn’t like you, just like I don’t really like who I am now. Right now, you’re some grand, mystical creature, even though you’re still supposed to be me. Since you’re from the future, I can pin all my hopes on you, like my mom probably did when she had me. If you’ve become someone good, I’d be grateful. But I know you don’t have complete control over that either. I just want you to be better than me. I figure the world won’t change much in a year, maybe it’ll even get worse in some ways, but I hope you’ve changed. I hope you don’t feel the same dread on New Year’s that I did. I hope you don’t just hole yourself up in your room, hiding from everything that feels overwhelming. The future is scary, I know, and there's always that looming fear of time passing, of things changing in ways you can’t control. It’s easy to get lost in that fear, to feel like you're running out of time or like it’s slipping away too fast. But time passing can also be a good thing. Sometimes it feels like time is an enemy, constantly reminding you of what you haven’t done or who you haven’t become yet. But maybe it’s not about racing against time, it’s about learning to move with it. I hope by then you’ve found a way to embrace the future, even if it’s uncertain. I hope you’ve found little moments to look forward to, even if they’re small. I hope that time doesn’t choke you out. If you’re struggling to get by, that’ll always be fine, too. There are always going to be things for you to look forward to, like the light that shines between the trees or being able to take photos with your cameras. I hope all my expectations don’t weigh you down. From, Atlas ‪‪❤︎‬