Letters to Ourselves

Looking Back: 

As part of my work in the education system, I am required to summarize each school year in professional reports. At the end of every year, I reflect on the therapeutic processes: where we started, what we did, and where we arrived—and how meaningful that practice is!In parallel, I also have a personal ritual: every June, on my birthday, I look back at the past year. What have I learned? What did I want to accomplish? And what are my goals for the year ahead?
This year, just a week before my birthday, someone who was close to me during my teenage years passed away. Though we hadn’t spoken for twenty years, I found myself revisiting old memories. On my birthday, I wasn’t only reflecting on the past year—I was reflecting on the past 28 years: everything I have lived, achieved, and experienced.

An Invitation for You

Unlike my other posts, this time I’d like to ask something of you: If you were to write a letter to your teenage self, what would you say?

• Would your teenage self welcome it—or reject it?
• Do you love the adult you have become?
• Would you have done anything differently?
• Would you allow your teenager to read that letter today?
  (And with that—how open are we with our children? How much of ourselves do we actually share with them?)

My Own Discovery

This year, as part of my personal process, I rediscovered letters, journals, photos, and keepsakes I had collected since the age of 12. I reread them and allowed myself to reconnect with the person I once was—the dreams I held, the fantasies I nurtured, and the people who, for different reasons, are no longer part of my life.

A Warm Recommendation

By the end of August, summer vacation will be over, and children will be heading back to school. Before September arrives, take a moment to write your children a letter—a letter you’d like them to read at the end of the school year. You can even turn it into a family tradition:

• Sit together and let your children write their own letters.
• Encourage them to set goals, dreams, and wishes for themselves.
• Think together about how those goals might be achieved, and what each of you may need to change this year to get closer to them.

Mark the date in your calendar to open the letters at the end of the school year. Keep them safe. Then, years later, gather them all and read them together. What a powerful, meaningful experience that can be!