‘Hello, it’s me…’: Why we love to write letters to our future self

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'It serves like a photo album of memories that portray a truthful account of my life. The intense emotions of a teenager; uncertainties as a young graduate, and a fair share of heartbreak.'

Developed back in 2002, the website allows users to send an email to a future date of your choosing: a time capsule of your innermost thoughts and feelings enclosed by internet code until that date arrives and it pings into your inbox.

Developed back in 2002, the website allows users to send an email to a future date of your choosing: a time capsule of your innermost thoughts It’s a task many of us were given as kids – but of course, we wouldn’t ever receive the letter. It would be lost to the recycling bin, or stored away in a homework folder, never to be seen again.

‘This is a pretty intense example, far beyond what I was expecting on a whim 20 years ago when we put this whole thing together.’App designer Malcolm Ocean, 30, sent himself a letter via the site in 2014 when he was 22. At the time he was studying design engineering at university and was contemplating what to do after graduating.‘I don’t know where you are right now. I’m really hoping that you’re still working on Complice [an app that he has since successfully launched].

‘It also needs to be a little bit fluid,’ adds Hilary. ‘Our life can change, things can happen around us that mean we can’t do what we thought we can do.’ For her, Fiona finds a benefit in writing out these difficult situations, as rereading them back is a reminder that, ‘it’s been crap before and we’ve worked it out’.

‘If I’ve had a conversation with a friend, they’ve come to me for advice, I like to send encouraging letters to be like, “whatever it is, you’ll work it out”.’ Christopher says that when he looked back at the letter, he knew he was in a far better place when it arrived. ‘I was about 50 pounds lighter than when I wrote it,’ he explains. ‘I was about a week or two from getting laser eye surgery as well. It was a good surprise and my life was on track.’

 

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