Geez. I’ve been hav’in a hellofatime figuring out this email/Substack stuff. I left a comment and then I signed up and did not see my comment. All that is to say - this might be a repeat. My answer to why I read what you’ve written or watch what you are saying … is that while I am listening I am writing/responding (in my mind and on paper) a lot!!! Jotting down this and that. In the recent Bob Dylan movie the actor that plays him says when meeting one of his idols “I was hoping to pick up a spark.” I pick up sparks from the two of you, when you are together and individually. I can’t recall what my original comment said. I’ll try to re-member; Maia you said something like “I am void of ambition” … I wrote down “that is my definition of peace.” lol, a spark for an essay/Ted Talk. Also, with regard to void of ambition; there comes a time when we stop producing “fruit” and begin planting seeds for the next generation. Creating community is a version of ambition, it is planting seeds that will grow without the need for you to nurture to fruition. That is not to say you will not continue to grow new fruit, I just wanted to say that mentoring matters! At 62, what age is my future self? 75 85 95? Of course, it is a big question mark. At this juncture of my earthly self, my future self is my Casket Self. It occurs to me that your assignments might be in service of a good death. I’ve been writing from my casket. Tres interesting! It’s like a tuning fork.
I am rambling. I shall bring this cacophony to a close. :)
Joanie! Welcome to the best place on the internet, the home of beautiful ramblers. I am so glad you're here although I'm sorry it was a hellofatime figuring it all out. I giggled and had an ah-ha at the same time when I read about your "Casket Self". To good lives and good deaths and the learning and mentoring in between.
My future self is an expert at sorting and sifting. What do I mean? That practice of letting go and holding on in the ideal balance, she will be pretty damn good at it. I'll garden more and sit in front of the laptop less. I'll drink less wine and take more mountain bike jumps (even though I'll for sure be older than most of the other women out there by then). I'll be a weaver who knows what threads to pull through and which ones to leave sitting in the basket, and if I pull the wrong one I'll have plenty of practice going back and doing it over. And, who knows where all of that will take me. But my current self and future self are in for the journey. That's what we're here for after all.
I'm reading this while on a lunch break from writing the romance novel. Is it any wonder that I read the fourth line as "I'll garden more and sit in front of the lap topless." HAHAHAH! Cherry, I love so much of this imagery, the blend of badass biker and calm weaver is so stunning!
ha ha ha, well I am in a cottage by the sea all on my own this week, so heck why not, work topless on the laptop! (that would be freeing until I forgot to turn the camera off on zoom meetings) totally cracking up over here!
sorry to hijack this thread but Maia? you are in scotland?! wow! i just feel like my life keeps circling Scotland on my mind's map. this crawl through my ancestors' lives and all that has surfaced because of it is far too coincidental! I'd love my future self to be staring at Maggie's wall or sitting in the Dunkeld Cathedral holding my just published book. Still waiting on that vision. Something has to be coming from all this Neptune energy!
We love a hijacked thread! I know I'm not Maia but I'll respond by saying she's in Japan with her nephew at the moment. That said, I'm sure she'll tell you all about her Scottish plans when she's back. Hint, hint...there are Scottish plans. Go Team Neptune! xoxoS
The whispers from my Future Self made the recent life turns and pulls make a little more sense. Fingers in way less (work-related) pies and making waaaay more space for writing and being outdoors. As well as your words I'm enjoying the writing assignments because they're different (or are they?!) from my memoir focus. I'm also here for the community - living in a tiny town at the bottom of New Zealand I'm yet to find my creative people. A blind writing partner date sounds FUN!
Hannah, It's such a treat for me to see you here. WELCOME! And I like the pies you've chosen to put your hands in...but you already know that. ;) Keep chatting with us and with others in the group. The blind dates will be sure to come! xoxoS
Reaching across time, I see myself as relaxed and confident - with paint-splattered jeans and charcoal-smudged fingers from creative projects at home, and comfy-chic travel clothing on book tours - I'm coming to Scotland, Maia!😃 Weirdly, she also swore that as my vision and hearing waned (I'm talking normal aging here; I already use reading glasses!), my other senses swelled ... taste, touch, smell, and that sixth sense of connection to the energies around us. I loved that.🖤
I'm swooning over the part where you wrote "my other senses swelled . . . taste, touch, smell and that sixth sense of connection." I LOVE your future self! And the current one who wrote this!
I have TWO future selves and they bifurcate my LIFE! HA! #1: retreat facilitator for the big dogs of entrepreneurship. I wear smart looking, well-fitting outdoor gear with my nice backpack and take these biggies out to get barefooted in the forest with me so they can re-connect to nature, themselves, and (gasp!) each other as actual human beings (not the human DOings they might think they are). #2: writer living in a motorhome dressed in ill-fittingly baggy blue jeans and stretched out t-shirts, still barefooted, but generally unshowered and over-caffeinated in the best way, pounding out words on the laptop whilst sitting in the middle of a forest somewhere out west.
Angie! YES! This makes me think of parallel lives. Like is there some other version of me who married a European man and lives in France with two small children? When I let those visions live it sometimes helps me sink into my life all the more because I know my parallel is happy in the world she's supposed to be in. Or...could this simply be...we contain multitudes!
This monthly challenge is fantastic. I think for me it is becoming a game changer. I am getting both emotional and circumstantial info from future me. Really, grateful for the suggestion!
I'm still feeling out my future self. I haven't sat still with my thoughts all week. I'm too prone to imagining a future version of myself farther from my current self than I know how to get to. I'm trying to work out loving where I am enough to build a bridge to somewhere that is real. I have way too many pots boiling right now, so just reading this is a stretch, but worth it.
Addie, thank you for sharing this. It's such a resonant feeling that I'm sure many can relate to. If imagining our future self is a way of escaping the part of our life that we really ought to be learning how to accept, how helpful an exercise is it? I also love the notion of thinking of future self as a week out or a month out...bringing them closer so the getting there part doesn't feel as unattainable.
My future self wears sundresses year round. That I sew. Since I currently don't sew I'm working on the logistics piece. I also live in jeans, sweats and t-shirts. So this will be new. Sewing machine procured. Fabric and a pattern are next.
Rachel! I cannot tell you how much I love this. So many people would have an image like that and then say..."I don't sew so I guess it's the wrong image" But you! You're learning how to sew. I applaud you on a thousand levels!
Thanks. It feels a little crazy. Yet also completely right. The vision was so clear. I could feel it in my gut, in my soul. I don't sew. I rarely wear dresses. Yet, I know this is something I need to do. My family thinks I've lost it a bit but I'm going forward with it anyway. I'll send a picture once I get something sewn.
Please do! I would LOVE a picture. And...if there is ANY astrologically supported time to follow the track of "I might have lost it", now's the time! Go you!
Geez. I’ve been hav’in a hellofatime figuring out this email/Substack stuff. I left a comment and then I signed up and did not see my comment. All that is to say - this might be a repeat. My answer to why I read what you’ve written or watch what you are saying … is that while I am listening I am writing/responding (in my mind and on paper) a lot!!! Jotting down this and that. In the recent Bob Dylan movie the actor that plays him says when meeting one of his idols “I was hoping to pick up a spark.” I pick up sparks from the two of you, when you are together and individually. I can’t recall what my original comment said. I’ll try to re-member; Maia you said something like “I am void of ambition” … I wrote down “that is my definition of peace.” lol, a spark for an essay/Ted Talk. Also, with regard to void of ambition; there comes a time when we stop producing “fruit” and begin planting seeds for the next generation. Creating community is a version of ambition, it is planting seeds that will grow without the need for you to nurture to fruition. That is not to say you will not continue to grow new fruit, I just wanted to say that mentoring matters! At 62, what age is my future self? 75 85 95? Of course, it is a big question mark. At this juncture of my earthly self, my future self is my Casket Self. It occurs to me that your assignments might be in service of a good death. I’ve been writing from my casket. Tres interesting! It’s like a tuning fork.
I am rambling. I shall bring this cacophony to a close. :)
Joanie! Welcome to the best place on the internet, the home of beautiful ramblers. I am so glad you're here although I'm sorry it was a hellofatime figuring it all out. I giggled and had an ah-ha at the same time when I read about your "Casket Self". To good lives and good deaths and the learning and mentoring in between.
My future self is an expert at sorting and sifting. What do I mean? That practice of letting go and holding on in the ideal balance, she will be pretty damn good at it. I'll garden more and sit in front of the laptop less. I'll drink less wine and take more mountain bike jumps (even though I'll for sure be older than most of the other women out there by then). I'll be a weaver who knows what threads to pull through and which ones to leave sitting in the basket, and if I pull the wrong one I'll have plenty of practice going back and doing it over. And, who knows where all of that will take me. But my current self and future self are in for the journey. That's what we're here for after all.
I'm reading this while on a lunch break from writing the romance novel. Is it any wonder that I read the fourth line as "I'll garden more and sit in front of the lap topless." HAHAHAH! Cherry, I love so much of this imagery, the blend of badass biker and calm weaver is so stunning!
ha ha ha, well I am in a cottage by the sea all on my own this week, so heck why not, work topless on the laptop! (that would be freeing until I forgot to turn the camera off on zoom meetings) totally cracking up over here!
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
Cherry, I love the imagery of yourself as a weaver! The word stirs so much ~ both literally and figuratively!🖤
sorry to hijack this thread but Maia? you are in scotland?! wow! i just feel like my life keeps circling Scotland on my mind's map. this crawl through my ancestors' lives and all that has surfaced because of it is far too coincidental! I'd love my future self to be staring at Maggie's wall or sitting in the Dunkeld Cathedral holding my just published book. Still waiting on that vision. Something has to be coming from all this Neptune energy!
Deb,
We love a hijacked thread! I know I'm not Maia but I'll respond by saying she's in Japan with her nephew at the moment. That said, I'm sure she'll tell you all about her Scottish plans when she's back. Hint, hint...there are Scottish plans. Go Team Neptune! xoxoS
and the sun comes out just as i'm reading this ☀️ looking forward to hearing more about these Scotland plans!!! 🤗
The whispers from my Future Self made the recent life turns and pulls make a little more sense. Fingers in way less (work-related) pies and making waaaay more space for writing and being outdoors. As well as your words I'm enjoying the writing assignments because they're different (or are they?!) from my memoir focus. I'm also here for the community - living in a tiny town at the bottom of New Zealand I'm yet to find my creative people. A blind writing partner date sounds FUN!
Hannah, It's such a treat for me to see you here. WELCOME! And I like the pies you've chosen to put your hands in...but you already know that. ;) Keep chatting with us and with others in the group. The blind dates will be sure to come! xoxoS
Thank you! It's such a treat to be here. Thanks to you both for creating this space and community.
Future self is healed and happy at work and home and sexy and has so many friends who see her fully
She is so sexy! And witnessed by the world around her as such. And she is content. I can feel it!
Thank you 🙏🏻
Reaching across time, I see myself as relaxed and confident - with paint-splattered jeans and charcoal-smudged fingers from creative projects at home, and comfy-chic travel clothing on book tours - I'm coming to Scotland, Maia!😃 Weirdly, she also swore that as my vision and hearing waned (I'm talking normal aging here; I already use reading glasses!), my other senses swelled ... taste, touch, smell, and that sixth sense of connection to the energies around us. I loved that.🖤
I'm swooning over the part where you wrote "my other senses swelled . . . taste, touch, smell and that sixth sense of connection." I LOVE your future self! And the current one who wrote this!
I have TWO future selves and they bifurcate my LIFE! HA! #1: retreat facilitator for the big dogs of entrepreneurship. I wear smart looking, well-fitting outdoor gear with my nice backpack and take these biggies out to get barefooted in the forest with me so they can re-connect to nature, themselves, and (gasp!) each other as actual human beings (not the human DOings they might think they are). #2: writer living in a motorhome dressed in ill-fittingly baggy blue jeans and stretched out t-shirts, still barefooted, but generally unshowered and over-caffeinated in the best way, pounding out words on the laptop whilst sitting in the middle of a forest somewhere out west.
Angie! YES! This makes me think of parallel lives. Like is there some other version of me who married a European man and lives in France with two small children? When I let those visions live it sometimes helps me sink into my life all the more because I know my parallel is happy in the world she's supposed to be in. Or...could this simply be...we contain multitudes!
This monthly challenge is fantastic. I think for me it is becoming a game changer. I am getting both emotional and circumstantial info from future me. Really, grateful for the suggestion!
A flooding of various info and data points is so wonderful. Thank you for sharing this, Lisa!
I'm still feeling out my future self. I haven't sat still with my thoughts all week. I'm too prone to imagining a future version of myself farther from my current self than I know how to get to. I'm trying to work out loving where I am enough to build a bridge to somewhere that is real. I have way too many pots boiling right now, so just reading this is a stretch, but worth it.
Addie, thank you for sharing this. It's such a resonant feeling that I'm sure many can relate to. If imagining our future self is a way of escaping the part of our life that we really ought to be learning how to accept, how helpful an exercise is it? I also love the notion of thinking of future self as a week out or a month out...bringing them closer so the getting there part doesn't feel as unattainable.
My future self wears sundresses year round. That I sew. Since I currently don't sew I'm working on the logistics piece. I also live in jeans, sweats and t-shirts. So this will be new. Sewing machine procured. Fabric and a pattern are next.
Rachel! I cannot tell you how much I love this. So many people would have an image like that and then say..."I don't sew so I guess it's the wrong image" But you! You're learning how to sew. I applaud you on a thousand levels!
Thanks. It feels a little crazy. Yet also completely right. The vision was so clear. I could feel it in my gut, in my soul. I don't sew. I rarely wear dresses. Yet, I know this is something I need to do. My family thinks I've lost it a bit but I'm going forward with it anyway. I'll send a picture once I get something sewn.
Please do! I would LOVE a picture. And...if there is ANY astrologically supported time to follow the track of "I might have lost it", now's the time! Go you!
Rachel, I love that you're already bringing your vision to life!