A Voice From the Futures (squared)

While I am once again contemplating and meddling with my future, I came across this response to my article from the Wall Street Journal: (If you have not yet read my article, here is the link)

"Dear a Voice from the Future"

After getting my article published, I did frequently check back to the site to read subsequent postings and what other guest writers had contributed, but today was the first time I had come across the response directed to me. I was shocked that I'd missed this, and embarrassed that I had yet to reply. Though it did not offer an immediate or absolute answer, the advice was tactful, tangible and encouraging.

After reading her article, I joined the others that had commented before me saying,

I really appreciate this article in response to mine from August. It’s been a year and a half since I graduated college, and never once have I given up on my dreams. It definitely gets frustrating as the months elapse and still I have yet to find the job that makes my heart sing. Yet, this challenge and the unending oscillations in opportunities and rejections have fueled me to continue to write in my personal blog to share the experience with others. And though I’d much rather have the dream job, at the least the hunt has inspired me to write even more. It is refreshing to hear real, tangible advice instead of the suggestion to find contentment with the status quo. I appreciate the encouragement and feasible suggestions in your piece. Thank you!

Dreams are a funny thing. We can't explain them, and often we hide them to conceal our embarrassment should we never fulfill them. My boyfriend had gifted me a copy of Finding Forrester, a movie about an elusive author that adopts a teenage boy with a gift for writing. At the end of the movie, after the mentoring has concluded, Jamal, his student receives this letter from the author:

Dear Jamal:

Someone I once knew wrote that we walk away from our dreams afraid that we may fail, or worse yet, afraid we may succeed. While I knew so very early on that you would realise your dreams I never imagined I would once again realise my own.

{{Seasons change, young man. }}

While I waited until the winter of my life to see what I've seen this past year there is no doubt I would have waited too long, had it not been for you.

Seasons change. And much like the hard, arduous winter of the North East that seemed to drag on and never end, sometimes finding patience and a warm coat (or a volunteer opportunity) help us get by until the reprieve of summer. Because eventually, one day, seasons will change.