Dear Future Me: Hopes, Fears, Secrets, Resolutions

by Matt Sly (Editor)

The best of the letters from the Web site FutureMe.org, where anyone can write a letter to himself or herself to be delivered in the future, are presented in a collection that offers an insightful study of our culture and society. Original.

Genres: Nonfiction

248 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2007

Reviews

[Ralu · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great to see other people's joys, struggles, and wishes. The book was very easy to read.

[Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

What would you say in a letter to your future self? I thought about that quite a bit when I skimmed through this book. (I say 'skimmed' because it was lengthy and I didn't read it in its entirety) Would I warn myself against repeating bad relationship mistakes? Lots of people seemed to do just that in their letters. I ran across people admonishing their future selves to be more fearless, to quit drinking, to travel more, to get out of abusive marriages. Like 'PostSecret', at times I found it too heartbreaking to read. It did remind me of this project my class did in elementary school, where we wrote letters to our future 20-something selves and stored them in a time capsule. I remember opening mine when it came in the mail and being amused and feeling bittersweet about the person I assumed I would be when I was a grown-up -- assumed from the wise perspective of a 12-year-old, that is!

Maybe if we write letters to our future selves, they should be without any expectations of what we feel we should accomplish within the next however many years.
Maybe?
Or perhaps it's good to push ourselves out of ruts and bad habits, even if it is via an email to whomever we end up being in the future.

[Emily W · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.futureme.org/
Before you read this review, go to the website. Write down how you're feeling right now - your struggles, thoughts, hopes, secrets, wishes, worries, and anything else significant to the present. Then, pick a date, and send that email to your future self.

I have been using the futureme website for over two years now, and it's always a pleasant surprise receiving a letter from a younger me. Although I tend to keep all my letters private (i.e. only I can see them), some users choose to send public but anonymous letters, which are available for anyone to see on the website. This book is a compilation of those letters.

It is a collection of curious lives all looking ahead to the unknown, wondering how things will change. It is a journey into the personal lives of people from all around the world. Common themes come through, and it is an insight into human nature, and our instinct to look to the future. Futureme.org is one of my favourite websites, and so I found this book both intriguing and inspiring.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining book. I love writing future me letters, and it was cool to read other people's too. Some of them were boring or just too long, but you could skim or skip those, I suppose. Fun to read.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The problem with this book is that it's like MLIA/FML. You can't just read two pages.

[Dessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! You can really learn something from this book...