A letter to my past or future self

This isn’t a time travelling blog this week, but rather an opportunity to chat to our future and past selves. 
Our writers have delved into some self-reflection and creative writing this week, writing a letter to themselves from the past or the future. It is so interesting!

Morning friends, I hope you are all coping in winter. 
Looking back, I have been achieving a lot of things, facing challenges, doing things that I thought I can't do it but now I can. Firstly congrats to me for finishing school, I am very proud of that. Although I have mixed emotions finishing school, I am proud and sad. I am sad because I will miss my friends and my lovely teacher aide. I am proud because finishing school is a happy moment and not everyone got to finished  year twelve. My teachers aide she has been supporting me since the start of year seven. I am also happy that I get to live in Australia, because I got lots of opportunities. I had an opportunity to do work experience at Coles when I was in year eleven, it was hard because it was my first time working in retail but you know what? I gave it a go, and always tried my best by listening to instructions. If I was still living in Indonesia, I am not sure if I would have had great opportunities like doing work placements. Life is much better in Australia compared to Indonesia. You all might be wondering how did I get to do placement at Coles? That time I attended a work skills course every Thursday at Box Hill. 
Another thing that was challenging for me was losing a job. I thought I got a job at an egg packaging place but I didn't end up getting the job, because they don't have enough eggs for me to pack. I was upset and I remembered that night I cannot sleep well because of losing a job. I spoke to my employment coach at my disability service how sad I was losing a job. She said "It's okay Jacinda, your job is not over". She just saying that so I don't keep overthink about it. A few days later, I got another opportunity to do placements at Woolworths. I was there from July until October I think, how do I feel ? I felt nervous and scared because of new situations, new people and a new job. Then I got the paid job in November, I was so happy about that and I got a Woolworths uniform because I am part of the Woolworths team now. Guess what? I am still there guys and it's going hunky dory. You see, even I experienced losing a job and a big change I am still happy and doing really well. 


In the future, I still want to keep going with Woolworths, doing handmade on Monday and blogging from home. I don't want to change activities because I am happy with my current activities. In the future I also would love to go travelling with my parents somewhere that I have not been before because I like going on a holiday. I am not sure where yet but surely a fun place. Well done Jacinda.
Your happy friend, Jacinda. 


Dear future myself,
You will be famous at a tv show and Dylan is my fan.  We know each other for a long time, you need to stay strong and be good and you need to work hard.  
You need to work hard for money for bowling and Monday for lunch.  You love to hangout with your good friends, sometimes with other programs too. You shouldn’t do too much gaming anymore. But every Monday you come to Balla Balla.
From TJ



To my future self, 
I would like to see you travel to England, Scotland, Ireland and New Zealand.  You want to have a family and work in the mines. I can see my future kids and them having kids too. I will be an amazing wife to my future husband and grandmother to my grandkids. 
I want my future self to make sure she has lots of holidays with my future in-laws and buy a big house for my family. I hope they can have horses, motorbikes and lots of space to grow up. 
I am passionate about mental health and I would love to have a mental hospital on my property for sick patients and they will receive all the care they need. 
I can see myself being on a new Titanic, but this time it would be built as an unsinkable and of course, I’ll be in first class.  
From Ash



What do I say to my future self?
I would say to myself that having some more friends in future is a goal. I have only one good friend called Brianna, but I would like for more friends . That is why I come to Umbrella Support, and I am happy to make friends there.
So this is how I will achieve this goal, my goal of making more friends.
I want my future self to know you are doing awesome, and you should be proud.
Ben2


Dear readers, this week's topic is a letter to your future or past self.
Let me start by writing this letter to future me.
Dear future Charlotte,
Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone more and don't forget to achieve your dreams and goals. I know you will enjoy your
life in the future and you will travel around the world and see new places. I hope you are fully licensed and safe driving around with your parents and driving yourself to programs. You will be so independant and it will feel great.
Just a reminder never to forget to put yourself first. Never also forget to help
your friends and family too.
I also hope you have achieved your dream of being a chef and I hope you own your own restaurant. I know you will work hard towards that goal.
Presently, I have learned so much, like media skills and I'm still learning how to drive and have made great friends.
Blogging is going very well, I am enjoying it very much and I have achieved so much. You will continue to achieve throughout your life.
Written by Charlotte


You will keep kicking goals, you will achieve many things.  You will get your licence and grow independence and you will be happy.
To achieve your goals you will need to follow steps, so that you don’t lose track.
Step one, get my hearing aids fitted. That is happening really quickly and I am excited.  This will help you in your day to day, communication and in being a good listener. 
Step two, you will keep working hard towards getting your drivers licence. To learn the rules for driving on the road. 
Step three, you will get a great job that you love. 
Step four, you will keep having fun every day, because that is important.
I want my future self to keep being you, don’t change for anybody. You are amazing just as you are. 

Signing off, your bubbly friend, Beth



A letter to myself and adventuring into the future.
I would like to one day make a hovercraft big enough for two people. I have interests in putting machinery together.
It would probably take me
a year to finish the craft but I have friends that will help me and make it easier and quicker.
A hovercraft, according to Google, is also known as an air-cushion vehicle is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice and various other surfaces. A hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull.
Once this is done and I have achieved my goals, I will once again have to look into another project. This one will take me into the future, and building something that hasn't been thought of but will benefit the future generations. 
This will be exciting times for me and my friends and the fun we could have together.
Nick


Dear little Claire
I'd like to let you know that we still love Disney and will go on many adventures to the movies and the Disney cruise. I want to remind you to be positive, happy and always be yourself, we are amazing!! I still love to dance and I have a lot of new moves, you will have the best time learning them at dance class. Make sure you keep dancing because it makes you happy. I love holidays and you can look forward to seeing places like Canada, America and Hong Kong. Keep going on holidays and enjoy your time with your family and exploring all the different cultures. I want to ask you to try new things like clothes, food, and shows because you never know you just might love them. When you grow up you will go to Umbrella Support and have the best time, you will work on skills like blogging and media and hang out with some great friends. I love to style my hair, do my nails, wear Disney clothes and be girly. Be happy, keep smiling and enjoy yourself.
Love from future Claire, also known as Princess Claire. 



Dear Ben.
I think it’s time to focus on sport media before its too late. You are almost 30 and you are ready to explore your options. Focus on the now and get some tunnel vision. Yes, there are other things that you could focus on but this is something you have always wanted to achieve in life so this should be your priority.  Stop being stubborn and allow others to help you on your journey. I know you can do some things but be honest with yourself and know your limitations and ask for help when needed. Another thing that I know is frustrating you is your lack of a partner. I know you are the only one without a partner in your family but be patient and it will happen. You have a few holidays coming up which is exciting as I know you like to travel but can’t do it as easy because of your disability, but that’s ok. Don’t take life so seriously either. Relax and enjoy every moment as it comes. The best advice I could give you is to slow down and be patient. Don’t let the outside world influence your thinking and ideas. Be yourself and be as unique as you can because no one is like you. 
From your future self. 
Ben1


A letter to my future self...
Hello my friends,
We could choose to write to our past self or our future self, which is a great idea for a blog topic and I'm excited about it. I have chosen to write to my future self because I've seen the movies about time travel, and we are going to leave my past self alone and not mess with time. I'm not about to mess up anyone's timeline or end up in an alternate dimension. With all that said, Let’s get going.

Dear future Shan,
I hope that you are doing amazing, I’m sure that you are kicking goals and please know that 2025 Shan is proud of you. You are probably worried about receiving a letter from your past self because you put extremely high expectations on yourself and you’ll be worried that you haven't achieved as much as we thought we would. I'm here to tell you that it’s ok to take a moment, breathe and refresh. You can only do so much as you’re only human and you’re doing so much better than you think.
You don’t need to do so much, you work hard to meet your goals, and you don’t need to push yourself so hard. Make sure the goals you make are realistic, less is also more you don’t need a whole list of goals to feel worthy. You are worthy as you are. You're enough even if you don’t achieve your goals all at once. You can do things in stages, take it one step at a time and remember to breathe.
The whole world is not on your shoulders, let things go and calm your farm. I know that’s easier said than done but mate please try, you’ll thank yourself later, trust me and you might sleep better. I said might... I’m not making any promises there. Please remember to drink water and eat lunch. We don’t like or need a dehydrated or hangry Shan. Keep up the affirmations with Chopper dog, they help you as much as him.
Do the things that make you happy, be kind to your mind and whatever is happening in your head, I can assure you it’s not as bad as you think.
I love you my beautiful friend,
From Shan.
Now to our lovely readers. I hope that maybe this letter might also be helpful to you, or it may inspire you to write your own. It’s a great activity if you have some down time and feel like giving it a go. Shout out to the wonderful Beth for the blog topic suggestion it was brilliant my friend.
Have a warm and happy day,
Your friend Shan