A letter from Sep 22nd, 2021

Dear Future Me, (I Cannot believe that I am doing this again *facepalm* here u go) Take a breath. Look down at your two feet. Where are they right now? Look around you. Do you see nature? Go touch the leaves. Pick a flower and deeply inhale its beautiful fragrance. Do you hear birds? Stop and take a moment to go listen to their music, because not everyone is so fortunate enough to be able to hear and enjoy that experience. Do you feel the sunshine on your skin? If not, go step outside and be grateful for the fact that it is constantly shining down on you, and that you are. Go take a bite of something delicious and savor every moment with absolutely no concern around any kind of weight gain. Not everyone is so privileged to have access to food, so superficial aesthetics should be the least of your worries regardless of the deep societal impositions. (I don't even know what that means but please look it up for me ok) How have you been of service to others today? You spent your whole childhood, learning, preparing, and risking everything in your life to be an adult, impatiently waiting for the rite of passage that would grant you the maturity, respect, and validation you so desperately sought. Now that you’re almost an adult at 17 years of age, all you crave is the sweetly uninhibited moments of play and lack of responsibility that childhood granted you. Life isn’t a sprint, it’s a long race and you’re not in it just to “win.” Be gentle with yourself. Be messy sometimes. Let it all go. Embrace all of your learnings and cherish your experiences because they truly are divinely fated. ENJOY IT. ALL OF IT. You will have enough time to do everything that you love, so stop stressing so much. You miss the beauty when you are stressed. Be here now. Hug those around you. Ask them how they are doing, and truly listen (without plotting your response at the same time). The inexplicable sensation of true connection and understanding is the best feeling in the entire world. Money is just a number. It comes and it goes. Family is the true currency. No one lives forever so be sure to cherish every moment, and when they pass and when you pass, find comfort in knowing that we are simply souls within these bodies, and we will all be connected at some point again. Life is a gift, not something that is a given, so enjoy every second while you’re here. So I hope you are feeling relaxed than you are stress since this is your final year, hopefully, it will be a better school year than the last. Oh and also by your winter break of 2023 please complete your goals on the list below. I am almost running out of time when both listening for this ap class and typing this out within two minutes so here you go. Goal 1: Making a mini office in my room to make videos Office space is necessary for making and editing my videos and also, I also have a green screen and know where to put it, which makes it easier to make a set in my room. Goal 2: Getting a shelf full of games, books, and collectibles. This will make my room better and it will be filled with a bunch of games from previous consoles all the way up to the PS4, Xbox One, and Switch, also I would like to add some books that I read and enjoy, and a bunch of toys or figures for sets. This will usually cost over maybe $245, how am I going to afford all of this, you ask? Because I will find and get a summer job, that will pay me $11/hour. Goal 3: Get a MacBook, with a Monitor, and a blue yeti microphone This will be going to split into 3 ½ parts so please stay put. The MacBook Pro. I like getting a mac because it is part of my goals. long story short, I have wanted to get a mac every since 6th grade, since then I have been fascinated by this piece of technology and how reliable it is both for school, work, making videos on adobe premiere and so much more. and believe it or not, the MacBook was the reason why I join the av class. For this type of MacBook, I would get the mid-2012 13-inch Macbook Pro Because of the reliability and upgrade abilities like I could add about 500GB SSD on this without overheating. The Acer SB220Q Monitor Aside from my computer and PS4, this is probably one of the best things I've could ever think of as a perfect monitor and for the goals I want. I’ll use it every single day without error and it looks amazing and cost $135, the truth is by April or the summer I think, I really needed something sufficient for PS4, homework, movies, everything else. I was torn between this and the HP pavilion (but since I can’t get another computer since I already have one, so honestly what’s the point, I chose this one) I’ll have no regrets about picking this one. The screen is definitely big enough (perfect for having multiple pages open for homework on canvas and so many more) and is insanely vibrant and good quality for the price. Blue Yeti Microphone/Snowball In order to become better at making videos I need a better microphone or two and that is the blue yeti microphone and the snowball. The Blue Yeti Snowball Microphone costs $50 which is the cheapest mic you can buy for high-quality audio, and although it’s perfect for recording for scripts and voice acting, it does not have a mute button, nor headphone output and volume. So I will also buy a blue yeti silver microphone it has everything that a snowball has but with a mute button and headphone output. And while I will almost always use my yeti silver microphone for advanced audio for my videos, I will also use my blue yeti snowball for smaller raw audio clips, interviews, and my microphone backup, in case my yeti ever breaks. Goal 4: Completing an animation project I wanted to make an animation project with only the basic skills, with a basic animation program like Flipnote studio, and then, I will work my way up to advance. Goal 5: Join in a few clubs at school If I try to join clubs at school like Spanish club, JROTC, Sports club, cooking club, or even joining as the school news, it will make me noticeable and popular during high school. Goal 6: Taking on 3 AP Classes for a senior year without fail If I take ap classes I will get college credit. By then it will make college easier. Goal 7: Pull an all-nighter I want to pull an all-nighter to complete more tests and homework, no matter the risk. Goal 8: Get More Jobs If I apply for more jobs during the summer break, I can work hard to earn money to afford all the stuff I need, the day after the last day of school I will start. Goal 9: enjoy some nostalgia Goal 10: binge-watch something that makes Goal 11: Try new foods Goal 12: Start a YouTube Channel Goal 13: Get a Car Goal 14: Get a Switch and a PS5 Goal 15: Complete all of your goals and become successful I hope you are done reading these letters in your email once you are done remising on your past and start focusing on the future, what will happen to me when writing this letter, I don't know but please figure it out for me ok? So once again thank you for reading this letter this will be one of the many letters you will be receiving from me from the past, Consider this as a parting gift from me, or a therapy session when things go wrong. Well, it's been fun but I gotta get back to work, so I will see you on the other side, okay? Ciao, Farooq Abdul-Rauf (Past Me).