Tag: pandemic

Message From The Past

True story: this week I got the following email from myself from January 2020 from futureme.org. I’ve edited out a few things for privacy reasons:

Dear [me],

This is [me], 2020 edition! How has the last 5 years been? [trimmed for privacy]

Funny you should mention that. The Pandemic happened shortly after.

Have you found what you were looking for with regard to Greek philosophy, or have you found new appreciation for the Buddha-Dharma?

I didn’t study Greek philosophy much after I wrote this. It was a fun exercise, but I didn’t find it particularly practical.

Are you still studying Greek?

As a matter of fact…

Did you keep up your Japanese studies?

Yes, despite some setbacks.

Do you still play D&D Adventurers League, or did you take up new hobbies? How’s your figurine painting going?

Yes, though not as much as I did at the time.

As I write this, it is January 2020, and overall things are pretty darn good. Finances are better than before, and [trimmed for privacy].

I was laid off by my old company two months later, but then found a better job anyway.

Your health-habits are (somewhat) better than before, too.

Some improvements, but also some setbacks here too.

As this is not my first (and probably not my last) FutureMe letter, let me say that as you’ve reach the half-way point in your life, you still have much to look forward to. Never get complacent, always strive for better, and never forget Hierocles’s Circle when you regard other people.

This is something that really felt meaningful in 2025. I talked about Hierocles’s Circle here, and I still think it’s a nice blend Greek philosophy and Buddhist practice.

Happy 2024 (?) ol’ buddy!

Not sure why I said 2024, when I meant 2025. Oh well.

Anyhow, that’s what I wrote to myself 5 years ago. Clearly, I failed to predict some things, some things never changed, and it was also a nice reminder to myself of some things that are important.

A New Dawn

I’ve been thinking about this conversation, shown above, from the game Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The game was made in 2019, just before the Pandemic, and other nonsense that went on in 2020 onward. How prophetic that statement was. Then again, I suppose this is something every generation has to live through in some ways. Sooner or later, things change, we lose something in the process and never get it back.

Wise words indeed…

It reminds me of a quote from the Analects of Confucius:

[9:17] The Master [Confucius], standing by a river, said, “It goes on like this, never ceasing day or night!”

Translation by A. Charles Muller

or Gandalf in the Fellowship of the Ring:

“Well, what can I tell you? Life in the wide world goes on much as it has these past age, full of its own comings and goings…”

J.R.R. Tolkien

Seen from another way though, this also means that new things come as well. Sometimes this can be scary, sometimes this can be a positive thing.

I suppose it’s all a matter of perspective.