A few months ago, I was going through some old boxes at my parent’s house and found notebooks that I kept from high school. In there was a time capsule booklet that I was meant to open five years later. It listed goals I wanted to have accomplished, my favourite things, my passions, my best friends. It was the most amusing experience to read over all of that and compare it to the present time. Mostly, I realized that I am still the dorky positive dreamer that I was way back in high school.
Tonight, I had a similar “blast from the past” experience with an old friend that I haven’t seen or heard from in about a year! We had a falling out over something really stupid but she contacted me to meet up because she’s leaving London in a few weeks. It was great to see her.
What struck me most about seeing her tonight is how different my life is now compared to one year ago. She asked me about the plans I had to move to Paris, about my plans to move back home, about all the boy drama that was happening back then. And I suddenly remembered that a year ago, I was learning French, planning to move to Paris and very much missing home. I was a work-a-holic, travelling almost every week to another G office. I hardly spent any time in London and hardly knew anyone in the city. I could never have predicted that I would be here now, still in London, and so very settled. It felt good to compare and to realize just how much I’ve grown and changed over the past year.
I was also very proud that she decided to pursue her own dream! For the longest time, she had been talking about moving to Bermuda to start a new life. And she’s actually going to do it. She has no idea where she’s going to live or where she’s going to work but she has faith that something great awaits. She has always been a romantic – so positive about the world and the opportunities in store. It’s inspiring. She reminded me that dreams can easily be made into reality if you really commit to pursuing them.
