Dear Future Self,
At this point in your life, you are not truly sure where you stand in the world. You have radically different political stances than most of your family, you have great friends, a “good” (by society’s standards) field, and you feel closer to them every day you spend with them. You even begun to fully study what you wanted to study – courses in history and sociology, a sweetspot of yours. You find that you can keep calm in many situations and have even started becoming comfortable in your own skin, something you have always struggled with. Ithaca College has done so much for you, or at least you believe, and it continues to throw good opportunities your way. It has also created an incredible amount of unnecessary stress and strife in your life, as more and more becomes revealed about the college’s plans for the future, you begin to seriously question the motivations of the administration. To make matters worse, you are not currently sure of your own purpose in the world. There are countless things that have grounded me and that I have fixated on, the most important and pertinent being the climate crisis. This semester has allowed you to grow academically and stretch your knowledge and passion into other areas, specifically the Black Freedom struggle. But just because these issues exists does not mean you have to fix it – right? This semester has allowed me to foster empathy within myself that I have never had before, but empathy that presents itself in anger. This anger is blinding right now – it creates a gridlock in your head. Don’t let this overlook the fact that your life is largely changing for the better – but knowing you, that is the least of your worries.
Did you finally let someone know you just for you? The issues in the world dominated by capitalism bog down your mind to the point where you forget to take care of you, for you. There is so much happening in the world, but I hope that you have time to take a deep breath and are doing what you love and for something you are passionate about.
Realistically though, whenever you are reading this, it is likely that the climate crisis has probably begun to wreak havoc socially, politically, economically, and globally. Therefore, I want to ask you: have you done everything you’ve wanted to do?
Sincerely, Past Gabe (circa 2021)
