I met up with my younger self today..

I saw this social media hype and had to have a go. I was surprised at how emotional I felt and just how real the fictional encounter felt. It brought back so many memories, feelings and really did force me to reflect on just how far I have come.

I’d recommend it. You too might be surprised at what comes to mind and how much you’ve grown.

I met up with my younger self for a coffee this morning. She was slightly late, frantically apologising while laughing about all of the things she’d managed to tick off her list before meeting me. I was ever so slightly early and feeling chuffed with myself for it. She told me of all the places she planned to travel to, seeking adventure and a new start. I showed her a framed print of South America, proudly on display in my lounge. A route I travelled aged 22. She told me she was utterly broken by losing her parents in the space of 11 months.

That the layers of trauma, desperation and fear were so thick, she ran away from them and now felt it all catching up with her. I listened as she barely stopped to draw breath.

My son sat next to me at the table in his high chair. I looked at him and told her all she needed to do was to hold on. That the emptiness and hollow heart she was carrying would one day feel fuller than she could ever hope.

She asked me how she would hold on. I said, “Because one day you’ll be in charge of someone’s childhood and the love you’ll feel will remind you of the family you are missing. You will feel completeness again. Just in a different way.”