+
upworthy
Pop Culture

College student reads an email sent by her 13-year-old self that's full of loving wisdom

"I hope you remember that you are beautiful and awesome."

future me, melanie skidelsky tiktok, nostalgia
@michelleskidelsky/TikTok

Melanie Skidelsky reading a letter from her 13-year-old self

We toss around the philosophical question “What advice would you give to your younger self?” a lot. But what if we switched that around? What if our younger selves had just as much wisdom to share?

Back in 2016, 13-year-old Michelle Skidelsky used the website FutureMe.org to write her future self a pre-scheduled email. She picked a send date at random without looking, not knowing if it would find its way to her 50 years or five days from that moment.

Cut to the present—it’s 2023. Skidelsky is now a 20-year-old college student. Her message just arrived.

In a now-viral TikTok clip, Skidelsky shared the loving words sent by her teen self, and millions of people were moved by just how positive it was.

“Dear Future Me…Hi! Did you miss me? It’s me, you!” the letter began.

Teen Skidelsky asked "Do you still want to be a doctor like I do? A psychiatrist?"

Adult Skidelsky’s answer: “No, I’m a communications major now.” But it’s OK, apparently her younger self "knew deep down that we weren't good at math."

@michelleskidelsky

i used futureme.org to do this!! dont let this fool you 13 year old me was rlly annoying

♬ original sound - michelle

Offering some words of wisdom, Teen Skidelsky continued, “If your life has gone horribly wrong, I'm sorry. But your life was awesome at one point and don't regret making your life horrible because at one point it was everything you wanted."

She also offered some really sweet encouragement, “I hope you remember that you are beautiful and awesome and deserve lots of awesome things…I am proud of you, because I know we are capable of great things.”

Touching, right? There were also a few funny quips in there, like “You are smart, or you were, and you can be smart again."

Towards the end of the email, Teen Skidelsky urged her future counterpart to treat herself to a donut. Adult Skidelsky explains the painful context surrounding that request, recalling that she had been battling an eating disorder during that time, and this was an attempt at giving her self-esteem some positive messaging.

And in case you’re wondering—yes, Adult Skidelsky got herself a donut. A vanilla one, to be exact.

@michelleskidelsky Replying to @thefairygrandmother ♬ original sound - michelle

Skidelsky also returned the favor by creating a TikTok carousel honoring her younger self, aka her “hero.”

Thirteen-year-old Skidelsky was a “strong, resilient and brave” young girl, whose “favorite color was white, though technically white wasn’t actually a color,” who “always chose navy blue ties for her braces,” who felt unrequited love for her best friend but would later find it elsewhere, who wanted to “prove to some unknown entity that she was smart.”

She loved books, music, weekend sleepovers, riding her bike around her hometown, spring, classroom games and making DIY room decor.

Yeah, young Skidelsky sounds pretty rad. And according to her older self, “things turned out better than she could ever imagine.”

It’s so common to think that a chapter in our life isn’t going the way it should be when we’re in the thick of it, only to look back with a renewed sense of appreciation of our former selves. How many times have you been baffled looking back at a photo of yourself you once thought was atrocious? Yes, me too. Perhaps one of the best ways we can perform self-love is to infuse our future with a sense of hope in whatever way we can.

And isn’t it just mind-boggling to think about how, in many ways, we’re never really just one person navigating through life? Our entire identity is basically an ensemble of different characters telling our story without ever really interacting with one another.

However, if you would like to engage with one of your co-stars from another time, you can write your own future self a letter here. Who knows, it might bring a smile to your face years from now.

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

Keep ReadingShow less
Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Mom’s blistering rant on how men are responsible for all unwanted pregnancies is on the nose

“ALL unwanted pregnancies are caused by the irresponsible ejaculations of men. Period. Don't believe me? Let me walk you through it."

Mom has something to say... strongly say.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, are a conservative group who aren't known for being vocal about sex.

But best selling author, blogger, and mother of six, Gabrielle Blair, has kicked that stereotype to the curb with a pointed thread on reducing unwanted pregnancies. And her sights are set directly at men.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Dad takes 7-week paternity leave after his second child is born and is stunned by the results

"These past seven weeks really opened up my eyes on how the household has actually ran, and 110% of that is because of my wife."

@ustheremingtons/TikTok

There's a lot to be gleaned from this.

Participating in paternity leave offers fathers so much more than an opportunity to bond with their new kids. It also allows them to help around the house and take on domestic responsibilities that many new mothers have to face alone…while also tending to a newborn.

All in all, it enables couples to handle the daunting new chapter as a team, making it less stressful on both parties. Or at least equally stressful on both parties. Democracy!

TikTok creator and dad Caleb Remington, from the popular account @ustheremingtons, confesses that for baby number one, he wasn’t able to take a “single day of paternity leave.”

This time around, for baby number two, Remington had the privilege of taking seven weeks off (to be clear—his employer offered four weeks, and he used an additional three weeks of PTO).

The time off changed Remington’s entire outlook on parenting, and his insights are something all parents could probably use.

Keep ReadingShow less
Science

She tattooed half her face and you'd never know it. Her skills are just that good.

This incredible medical tattoo technology is giving renewed hope to burn victims.

All images via the CBS/YouTube

Basma Hameed runs a tattoo shop, of sorts...


Meet Samira Omar.

The 17-year-old was the victim of a horrific bullying incident.

Keep ReadingShow less
Images via Alan Taylor/Flickr, used with permission.

Updating the kitchen.


Remember those beloved Richard Scarry books?

Books from when you were a kid?

Keep ReadingShow less
Education

Voice recordings of people who were enslaved offer incredible first-person accounts of U.S. history

"The results of these digitally enhanced recordings are arresting, almost unbelievable. The idea of hearing the voices of actual slaves from the plantations of the Old South is as powerful—as startling, really—as if you could hear Abraham Lincoln or Robert E. Lee speak." - Ted Koppel

Library of Congress

When we think about the era of American slavery, many of us tend to think of it as the far distant past. While slavery doesn't exist as a formal institution today, there are people living who knew formerly enslaved black Americans first-hand. In the wide arc of history, the legal enslavement of people on U.S. soil is a recent occurrence—so recent, in fact, that we have voice recordings of interviews with people who lived it.

Keep ReadingShow less