Welcome to day 14 of my experiment: Going through the Valley of Despair.
Today, when I think of the Charlottes of the past, I feel only pride and compassion. They didn’t know what I know today — and still, they kept walking. They moved forward blindly, took risks, made mistakes, and achieved things they would never have imagined. They advanced without a map, without guarantees, without the awareness that now seems so obvious to me.
That is precisely what I admire most about them.
That’s why I want to cultivate the same feeling toward the people I have yet to become. I want, one day, to look at the Charlotte of today with the same understanding — as someone who did the best she could with what she knew and had.
Today, I know almost nothing of what I will know in the future. What is still waiting to be revealed? What will I learn from these versions of me that doesn’t yet exist? Or will it be them who will learn from me?
Which certainties that I defend today will inevitably fall apart?
To my future versions,
