Inspired by One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern, I've decided to ask people some thought provoking questions about themselves, as I feel that everyone has a story to tell. If you're just joining me on this journey today, please check out the previous posts from this series, as well.
I've known this week's storyteller for a long time. We met when I was in college and stayed in contact even after moving to different parts of the country. The last time we hung out was in the summer of 2001, when he was back in Chicago for something to do with his job. A while back, he married a woman with whom I've become close friends, even though we've never met in person. I hope we all get to meet up someday, as I think he and my husband would get along well too. Today, he's answering my question about something people don't know about him.
Name: Kevin
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Location: Omaha, NE
It was a cold, dreary day in January the first time I time traveled. I won’t ever forget that day, because I can’t. That’s part of how this works. I was on a school bus heading towards school, head buried in headphones, while my Walkman pumped out Sly Fox’s “Let’s Go All the Way” through big, orange headphones. I looked out the opaque window of the bus and tried to imagine myself anywhere but here. Maybe someplace warm. Arizona. I just knew, as I sat in those green over-sized seats on that bus with no heat, I wasn’t happy where I was at the moment. I hadn’t realized it then, but that’s when my time traveling had started.
I don’t really travel in time, of course. That’s just what I’ve taken to calling it. It’s more of a visualization. When I’m in a situation in my life that I’m not particularly happy with, I try to see myself where I want to be. In that moment, I wanted to be off that bus and somewhere warm. There’s more to time traveling than just picturing myself somewhere else, or in a different situation though. In order to “time travel,” you have to be that future self you’re trying to connect with. Sometime in the future, I have to connect with myself in the past. I have to remember that point in my life, and look back on my past self and say “I’m someplace warm now. Everything is a lot better. You made it through.”
The time traveling has brought me a lot of solace in my life. When I’ve had a stressful time at work, when I was going through my divorce, any time I’ve felt like I just can’t take it anymore, I’ll look up at the sky and say “Hey future self, I’m going to make it through this, right? It’s going to get better and all work out in the end, isn’t it?” When I do that, I gain strength from my future self, and it gives me the resolve to make it through my tough time. Then, at some point in the future, when I catch myself thinking “Wow, things are really nice right now, I’m pretty happy,” I’ll look up into the sky, and think about all those times in the past. I’ll connect with myself in the past and I’ll say “Yes past self. Things worked out ok, and life is pretty good right now.” I give my past self the strength he needs to move forward. It was a warm, beautiful day on a beach in Mexico - my honeymoon - the last time I connected with that cold boy on the bus. I’m pretty sure he felt that warm sun on his face in the past, just as much as I did at the time.
My name is Kevin, and I’m a time traveler.
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1 comment:
I think I do a similiar thing, Kevin. It started when I was in high school and college facing a difficult test that was causing stress. I'd tell myself, "You won't feel this stress at 12 noon today, because the test will be over by then." It helped to realize that some things will expire. Like stress over a temporary situation. You can quantify time - so you can quantify the duration of a bad feeling. Sorta like time travel? No? Maybe just a little? It at least uses the concept of time as a means of traveling beyond a present situation. Hhhmmmm...
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