Today I received a letter. Nothing special, you might think. Well, think again baby, because this letter is literally a blast from the past. Written exactly five years ago by no one other than myself in a fine, dusty and dandy place named Black Rock City. That’s right. In 2017 I attended a letter writing workshop at Burning Man where we wrote letters to our future selves. Lick the envelope shut, write the address and the year you’d like to receive your 2017 words.
I got very excited obviously, and wrote three long letters to my future self. On the envelopes I wrote: 2018, 2022 and 2027. So I would receive these words of wisdom one, five and ten years after writing them down. I would forget, I thought. But I never did. When I received my first letter in September 2018, I felt so ridiculously happy. It’s real! It works! Someone is actually posting this nostalgic snail mail!
While friends kicked up the dust at Burning Man this year, I thought of the letters I wrote one afternoon five years ago. I wondered if the lady who posted them still met up with the letter box once a year to drop off a bunch of envelopes containing perfumes of nostalgia poured out of heads high on life and desert excitement.
Today I found out she does. Because my letter arrived and I was laughing out loud the entire time while reading it. My heart beating fast, take me back to that afternoon! I was so sweet and wild. Definitely sweeter and wilder than I am now.
It goes something but not entirely like this:
Dear Joke,
33! Holy shit! This is your 28-year old dusty self at Burning Man. Have you been back yet or not? Are you still living the forever travel and festival life? If you are settled down somewhere, I hope you are happy and the community feels like coming home. Please tell me you’re writing. Every day! I am writing you while wearing my PJ’s and a red riding hood cape. Please tell me you have better style.
Always choose happiness, even if it means you need to change some things around. Change is gooood! Makes you feel ALIVE! Burning Man taught me anything is possible, that all your wildest dreams can come true. You are in charge. I hope you’re laughing a lot and really loud, riding your bike, spending time in nature. That you’re reaching next levels in all the good things in life! Especially in silliness and not taking life too seriously. Tell me you’re dancing. That you've learned to dance tango from a sexy Argentinian man named Juan.
Be open to everything! Have you dated a woman yet?
I will guess where I’ll be in 2022… In South America, or Spain!
Lots of love from Black Rock,
Joke
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