Tonight my siblings and I will fill and seal the Time Capsule box for 2007.
In 2002, we started this tradition, putting in things that we cherish and writing a list of burdens we wish to rid ourselves of and a list of things we want to accomplish in the next five years. At Thanksgiving this year, we opened the box and perused the contents. It was a tearfully fun experience filled with laughter and a few sighs of “wow… that’s what I wanted to complete? Yeah… I so totally missed the mark.” Because the opening of the box was such an incredible experience, we have decided to repeat the tradition with a new twist: every year, from here on out, we will create a Time Capsule to be opened in five years. That way, eventually, we will be able to repeat this eye-opening experience every year.
I am amazed at the pressure I feel to “get this right” this year. Since I have had the experience of opening the box, I now feel as though what I put in the box this year needs to be important, substantial, understandable and well… doable! I am aware that, since Thanksgiving, my 2007 Time Capsule contents have floated in and out of my mind, usually accompanied with the thought, “I can do that later.”
Well… it’s later. I have no more time left. Tonight is the night.
I am aware that I am longing to write something about having a significant other in my life, a lover, a partner, a companion… someone who wants to be with me. I am aware that I want that with more and more of my heart every day and feel so scared to write that because I will be devastated in five years if I open up my packet only to discover that I had fallen sadly short of the mark.
I am aware that I am giving into my fears. Therefore, I have opted to include a copy of A Life Without Fear. I am allowing them to decide what I do and do not put in there. Silly, really. It’s only a box.
Or is it?
