A letter from October 15th, 2014

October 14th/15th, 2014 Dear, dear, darling 97-months-from-now me: This morning in English class (in my defense, we had a work period in the library and I was really bored), I started thinking about how moms always give the age of their children in months, even after the child passes the one-year mark. I imagined this taken to the extreme: “Oh, my son Greg just turned 97 months old”. Now, this was fairly amusing (you know how I always laugh at my own jokes), but it led, later in the day, to me deciding to drop a line to myself, 97 months (just over eight years) in the future. It’s too bad you can’t write back. So let’s start with you. You just turned 24. (Sorry I missed your birthday. Hope it was swell.) Now, this boggles my mind somewhat. Eight years ago I was barely sentient. I remember nothing from that time, so it’s impossible to imagine everything that might change in another eight years. Presumably you have some kind of employment. But what it is, I don’t even want to guess. (That’s Claire for “I’ll guess anyway”.) Novelist? Metal singer? Writer of the blurbs on the back of chip bags? Whatever it is, I hope it lets you wake up smiling every morning. Hopefully you’ve had some kind of romantic relationship, but by the way things are going now, I wouldn’t hedge any bets. Maybe you’re married, maybe you have kids, maybe you’re as much of a bumbling beginner as I am now. (By the way, if and when you do have kids, they better have cool names.) Whether you’re single or committed, I hope the person you end up with is cute (obviously), kind, makes you laugh, and has good taste in music (very important). Where do you live? Who are your friends? What are you reading, watching, listening to, thinking about, wishing for? I guess it’s pointless to wonder since we’ve already established that you can’t write back. But I’m wondering anyway. Have you published a novel yet? If not, get off your butt and do something about it. You have no excuse. Are you keeping fit and eating healthy? If not, same goes as for the novel. Get a grip, lady. <3 Anyway. It’s hard to write about myself. Mostly because of how incredibly trivial my daily life will seem. Like, “Oh, I’m sitting in a Bridgehead. Today I learned how to program simple ‘If’ statements and had leftover Chinese food for lunch.” Big whoop, 2014 Claire. And the things and people that mean the world to me now are more than likely to mean nothing to 2022 Claire. That goes for books (Hyperion and TFIOS, amirite?), bands (NW, SW, other ones without Ws but mostly from SWeden, geddit), school, various things with the initials MC, clothes, various things related to the country of Finland, and whatever else I love—it’s hard to sum it up succinctly. But 2022 Claire, you can drive and vote and drink (please not all at once). You’ve been places I haven’t been, met people I haven’t met, heard music I haven’t heard, had inevitable successes and inevitable failures. You’ve graduated from high school (probably), attended metal concerts (probably), finally watched The Breakfast Club (maybe) and fallen in love (possibly). The truth is, 2022 Claire, I have no idea what you’ll be doing with your life, and that is both terrifying and thrilling. While any advice from a 15-year-old version of yourself may seem dumb and quaint and you’re free to be all like “lol” and totally ignore it, here’s some anyway: -Be happy. In the brief years of my life so far, I have been both sad and happy, and I’m not too young to understand that happiness is infinitely preferable. It’s not about your situation, but your attitude towards it. -Be healthy. In the brief years of my life so far—you get the idea. Also, it’s much easier to follow the first piece of advice when you’re following the second. -Respect everyone. You don’t have to like them, or agree with them, or want to spend time with them. Just understand that you would act exactly how they do if you’d experienced what they have. Don’t condescend to anyone. You know how it feels, and it’s not fun. -Listen to and good music. Whatever the hot jams are in 2022. You know how important music has been in the first 15 years of your life. (If you need a recommendation, 2014 Claire is currently jamming out to Long Way Home.) -Read and write good things. Reading is your passion and writing is your talent. Never stop letting them improve your life. -Sing. It’s your other passion. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you how lucky you’ve been to have such great musical training. Speaking of which. -Be grateful. I don’t know what’s gone down in the eight years that separate us, but even if your life has gone to crud and you loathe everything, remember how lucky you’ve been. An amazing family, an unbeatable artistic education, unbeatable art, no real tragedies, and countless amazing experiences from foreign exchange to Progpower to camping trips to Festival 500 to Enron to Judy shows to Nightwish to womps to DWKS to Waldorf to Careers, and countless days in between that weren’t special yet somehow were. And that’s just the first 15 years of your life. We’re a lucky girl. Keep it real, Claire. You’re a great young lady who has done and will continue to do great things. Have fun and never forget how amazing the world is and how lucky each one of us is to be here. Love, Claire PS. Lynn said I should keep a paper copy of this in case the Internet doesn’t exist in 2022. What a scary thought. PPS. I just thought there should be a PPS because the Internet thing was a bit of a grim note to end on. PPPS. Jumbo/Large.