Prompt: Future self. Imagine yourself five years from now. What advice would you give your current self for the year ahead? (Bonus: Write a note to yourself 10 years ago. What would you tell your younger self?)
About five or six years ago, I was sitting at a restaurant with a small group of friends, and one of my friends asked if we had “five year plans,” as in, where did we want to be in five years. I did not. Sure, I had ideas of what I might want to be doing, but I’m more of a “go with the flow” person when it comes to life. Maybe that puts me “behind schedule” (aka, not married, no kids, still working freelance), but at least I haven’t been disappointed by failing to reach my goals, right? As a musician, you just can’t always choose what you want out of life—there is just too much luck involved. I wonder if my friends are now where they wanted to be then? I would rather not know…
SHOULD I institute a five-year plan? There’s just a few things I’d like to change for sure—I don’t want to be renting or paying my student loans anymore. I’d still like to get married and have a kid, and probably should do that within five years. I’ll still be playing violin and teaching, and I’ll have a different car than the one I drive now. I’ll, sadly, probably have a different cat as well. My clothes will probably be different, according to the fashion. I’ll still be working out regularly, running, and eating well. I’ll still be wearing jeans, and my hair will be some shade of brown. I’ll probably still own a large amount of black clothing—or at least I want to.
Things I can’t imagine because there are just too many variables: where I will be living (honestly, I don’t care as long as I’m with Chris 
), what sort of house/condo we’ll own, whether the new cat would be fat as well, what sort of car I’d be driving, etc. Friend-wise, well if I’m still in this city I’ll have lots of good friends, probably many of the same ones I have now, if we’ve moved I’ll have new friends and keep in touch with some of the old.
What advice would I give my current self for the year ahead? Relax. Enjoy. It’s out of your control anyway.
(Bonus: Write a note to yourself 10 years ago. What would you tell your younger self?
I would remind myself to read the Harry Potter books many times, to enjoy the Lord of the Rings movies, to treasure my friends while I can because we will all be moving, that it’s okay to leave the Charlotte Symphony because happiness is more important…and to relax. Enjoy. It’ll turn out okay. Oh, and don’t panic and accept every possible teaching position!)
DITTO!!