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The people they’re too exhausted to be any longer. » oh no. Feelings.

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Right? I love this line too.

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“I think the future selves are kinder. I can’t hear what they’re saying, or see what they look like, but I can sense their warmth and grace.”

This is your innate wisdom telling you to keep going. Bliss is within your reach.

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And thank you so much for recommending Wild Cozy Free!! So deeply grateful ❤️

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Thank you Kim! ❤️✨

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First, thank you for sharing that totally awesome poem I had never read before and have now saved!

Second, in my newsletter last November near Thanksgiving I asked the question, “What will your future self thank you for?” I hope my future self will thank me for having the courage to be honest and vulnerable and share my true self with the world instead of a superficial false self that is confident and successful and always happy. Right now my past self is proud of me for standing up for what I believe is right even though that meant walking away from my former career. She’s also scared shitless by the uncertainty of entering unfamiliar territory and not knowing where it will lead.

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And thank you so much for recommending Wild Cozy Free! Means so much to me ❤️

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I’m so glad you like the poem!! Isn’t it so good?

I find it hard to answer those questions without being hard on myself, as evidenced in the essay, but I love your responses. True self > superficial false/confident/“successful”/happy self always.

And you’re definitely not alone in feeling scared shitless about the unfamiliar territory. I’m right there with you for sure ❤️

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This wonderful essay brought me back to a vision I experienced during meditation a few years ago. Out of nowhere my present self (at the time I was mid forties) was sitting between 10 year old me and 71 year old me. We sat together for quite some time and through our sharing I knew that my 71 year old self was very happy (she also had very nice shoes!).

I go back to that memory often, thinking about that girl and the woman I will become.

I hope all of our past selves have compassion for us, that they know in their bones we are doing the best we can, walking slowly toward the light of our highest being, and usually that involved a great deal of zigzagging.

Thank you for sharing your beautiful voice with us Alexa!

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Oh Donna, this is so beautiful, intimate, and stirring. What a powerful vision. Thank you so, so much for sharing. Your words mean so much.

I once pictured my future self sitting in a chair looking very calm and at peace, during a guided meditation by Tara Brach. It was during a really rough personal season, and my future self had this look in her eyes like “this part is hard, but it doesn’t last forever. But it’s okay to feel it all while you’re here.”

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Hold onto that warmth. It’s there to guide you.

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❤️❤️

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I really enjoyed this essay, there were some wonderfully written lines and the sentiment is beautiful.

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Thank you so much Michael!

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Thank you for sharing your voice with us. It’s a different connection when I can hear the voice behind the words. And your singing voice is lovely.

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Thank you so much Kim! This means so much. I was SO anxious about recording the first voiceover last week, and thankfully that this one came a bit more easily. So easy to focus on the tiny details and want things to be perfect, as if I recorded this on a sound stage and not from my couch 😂

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Commending your courage to keep sharing! I felt the same when I started my podcast.

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Ah I can imagine!

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This resonated so deeply with me --- I've certainly been in phases in my life where I've felt this same harsh self-judgment. And you're right --- there's grace and peace on the other side of the fog. We're becoming our future selves every day. I really love this. Thank you for sharing your words with the world!

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So glad it resonated with you Jordan! So grateful to have you in this community ❤️ Here's to walking towards that grace and peace. (Also I feel like I'll definitely write a play about the past/future selves one day.)

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