Dear Friend,

I recently visited my acupuncturist and he handed me the envelope above. It was a letter from myself to myself, written on July 17, 2014, and to be delivered in five years time. Bob was supposed to deliver it to me at the five year mark of my practice, but he somehow forgot so it arrived 21 months past that date. 

When I first opened my acupuncture practice in 2014, he encouraged me to write a letter to myself that would describe my practice and my life in five years' time. His teacher had held this practice for him and he wanted to offer it to me. He told me to be careful what I wrote because most of it would come true.

And he was right. A lot of what I described in the letter actually came to fruition. I had just started dating Hanbit then and now we’re married. My practice does look similar to what I describe though, notably, my patient load is smaller than what I initially imagined. I’ve learned to burn off a lot of insecurity about productivity and “success” and I’ve become more honest about what I really want and how I want to live.

Most of the “ambition” that I have now is more about having more time with Hanbit and more space for my spiritual practice and self-care. 

The pandemic has made it hard to see the future. 

I am hopeful that I will return to my West Philly office soon, but I also have no idea when that will be possible. There are many factors in our lives right now that remain hazy in terms of the details. And there are many details that might remain well beyond our influence or control.

But we do have agency in how we structure our choices, and how we make decisions. And even though this might sound cheesy, I have come to believe that the values and intentions of our choices are always more important than the external events. It’s the values and intentions that we act from that will leave their imprint on our world.

If you would like to write yourself a letter that I will deliver to you in the future (I suggest picking a time frame of at least three to possibly five years; the long game!) I would love to offer this practice to you. Reach out if you would like to coordinate delivery of a sealed letter to yourself with me; I will hold onto it for you and deliver it to you at the date you specify.

This practice can be like planting a seed for yourself. It’s not wishful thinking. It’s not even willing yourself to “manifest” something. It’s not amping yourself up. 

It’s more like a guiding light, an inspiration, taking a view of the long game. 

How do you want to live? And how do you want to die? 

What do you aspire to? 

Who is with you in the future? 

What qualities/values would you like to guide your decisions?

Allow these questions to guide you as you craft your new future. The details will fall into place when the right time emerges. 

Spring is the season associated with vision, with intention, with setting your path. It’s a brand new cycle of a year, and this year I encourage you to expand your sense of time. 

Many of us spent 2020 waiting for 2021. Let’s not keep living short-term waiting for the pandemic to be over? 

What if we thought forward to 2026 or 2030 or 2045? 

How can you create a life that will set you on the path towards connecting with the qualities that you so ardently want to share with the world? 

Please write yourself that letter. Tell yourself what you want to hold onto and let go of. Tell yourself what matters most to you. What is your guiding light?

Then, once you have your vision, let’s live in a way that will allow us to all shine forth with our interwoven luminescence. The world needs all of us to live in our light.

With love,

Monica