A blogger I’ve been following for quite a while, Stephanie Faris, is holding a “group blog” thing. Each Thursday, everyone participating writes on the same topic and links up. Seems like a cool idea (i.e., it saves me the trouble of thinking up a topic), so why the heck not? This week’s topic:

Dear CJ, 1979

A letter from now-me to then-me on my high school graduation day:

Hey young me,

I’d love to tell you a lot of stuff, but I think you’ll find that as long as you stay true to yourself, you’ll have an interesting life. Since I don’t want to muck that up for you, let me give you a few nuggets that might help.

• Heed Polonius‘ advice.
• Before you head home from Cole, get the kisses from the girls you want to kiss. This may be the last time you see some of them.
• Put forth the effort to make new friends and stay in touch with all the people in your life.
• Trust yourself and love whenever you can.
• On your way home from graduation, stay on the beltway; 295 and the parkway are going to be nightmares so they’re no shortcut.
• Never stop trying to be better tomorrow than you were today.
• Enjoy the heck out of being a Terp.
• Smile. It helps.

I’m not saying whether those were things that you will do or if they are things that you should do. It’s pretty good advice regardless.

What I can say to you about your future is that I’ve enjoyed my past. My life has been much richer in so many way than you’ve yet to imagine. You’re on the right path for you. Trust in that. When you come to a fork in the road, never regret the direction you choose. Never forget your past but also move forward. Accept that you won’t get everything you want, but you will also receive more than you expect. Much more. Being nice is worth it.

I know that’s so vague that it’s not going to help you at all. Just know that I have faith in you.

Always in your corner,

CJ