If I’m honest? I live in both.
Some days my brain is firmly parked in the past. Memories sneak up on me when I least expect them — the really good ones that make me smile out of nowhere, the soft nostalgic moments that feel warm and familiar… and then the harder ones. The ones that catch in my chest. With my dad’s anniversary creeping up next week, that part feels louder than usual. Grief has a funny way of time-travelling without asking permission.
The past also brings the what ifs. What could I have done differently? What choices would I change if I had a do-over? Some memories I hold gently, some still sting, and some I’d honestly rather leave boxed up because reopening them feels like reopening wounds that took a long time to close.
But then — almost immediately — my thoughts flip forward into the future.
I think about my boys constantly. Who they’ll grow into. The choices they’ll make. The people they’ll love. The mistakes they’ll learn from. I wonder if I’m doing enough now to give them a solid, safe launch into whatever life throws at them. I picture milestones I haven’t seen yet and moments I hope I’ll be around to witness.
And then there’s me. Where will I be in 10… 20 years? What version of myself will I be proud of? What will I wish I’d started sooner? The future feels full of questions, hope, quiet anxiety, and a strange sense of excitement all tangled together.
So I guess I don’t live in just one place on the timeline.
I bounce between remembering and imagining. Between honouring what’s been and quietly planning what’s still to come. Some days that feels heavy. Other days it feels like growth.
Maybe that’s just being human — holding the past with care, while still daring to look forward.
💭 Your turn:
Are you more past-focused or future-thinking? Or do you time-hop like me? Come chat — I’d genuinely love to know.
The Reading Nook 