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Hello future me, I hope you are okay. This hasn't been easy and I am hoping it is later on. I have to admit the feelings I have now. I feel hopeless and helpless. This angers me and I need to control myself or I might not get to read this letter again. I need to constantly remind myself what I am living for and I know I am not alone. I hope to find myself productive and profitable. I want to become smarter. I need to overcome this and not fall into a deeper hole. I know I can do it, not only for myself but for my family and our future together; be brave.

I felt hopeless, worried for all the people who have or will have lost their businesses . For example restaurants, retail establishments, tourist destinations, artists, actors, film. Anxiety over the new world we’ll be experiencing in the future. Sadness for my daughter and the time she’s lost, the natural progression of her life, her change of personality due to Covid and the long haul effects of catching the virus pre vaccine. All of our children who will have lost something irreplaceable due to the pandemic, All my clients who now suffer from GAD and or depression. The young people who’ve lost the often precious experience of going away to university and living on campus. The peace I experienced sometimes felt fr pm just being.. Not expecting myself to socialize. The difficulty being with a partner far too often. The need to be alone and to miss him, The ache for my child who lives in a different country. Missing her and not being able to help her, especially when she was ill and was also experiencing the loss of an important relationship. The lovely significant contact with my friends via text .. iMessage. The loneliness of not being able to meet them for coffee, Getting to know our neighbours on a deeper level . The quiet streets. No hustle and bustle. Children playing out front on their lawns. People walking their beautiful dogs. The raccoons, the tame grey squirrel, the bold blue jays, the shy beautiful Cardinals who called for more peanuts. My neighbours sweet little tabby Nala. Demanding my presence by her side. My baby Willow my shadow during the pandemic. Always demonstrating her love and asking for mine. I’d be so very lonely without her. Her silky soft playful serious worried, loving talkative presence . Keeping me company all through the night with her sometimes unwelcome need to lay, or be fed. The woodpecker in our backyard… beautiful ( like a cartoon). The beautiful blond neighbours who played out front during lockdown with their creative Halloween thank you cards and their cat Coco and huge puppy Max The raccoons asking politely with their worried wistful expressions bringing their babies for us to watch over while they foraged for food. Couldn’t go visit Emily’s new baby Karim. My frustration with anti vaxxers picketing hospitals and our overworked hospital staff.. angry still . Not thinking about the greater good. The anti maskers … not wanting to be told what to do or what they can’t do. Remember the seat belt laws, the law against drinking and driving drunk, can’t murder people, etc etc So lucky to have books and stimulating experiences like the museum of contemporary emotions. The world seems to be imploding. January 6th - unheard of - the disgusting scary lies put out by the GOP in the US. The horrifying repulsive crimes against people of colour, against Muslims and Jews . Prejudice seems to be much worse more out in the open. Blaming people of Asian descent for the pandemic. Hate crimes against them have proliferated— encouraged by Trump and the other gangsters. Hopefully the Ukraine will remain free and there won’t be a war. I think I’m very lucky to live in Toronto Ontario.

Happy. Cozy. Safe. Warm inside. Present. Well. Connected.

Dear future me, at the end of 2021, with Covid variants and other obstacles, you are feeling exhausted, yet hopeful at the same time... I hope it is a lot clearer, more balanced and more energetic where you are right now. I hope that you are surrounded by those you love and those you sought to protect. I hope that you are as much a team as you ever were. I hope that you kept that healthy pattern and that you're in good health. I hope you read all those books you wanted to! And did you keep that regular excercise? I hope that you can identify your growth as a person, that you've taken giant leaps on your path. That you finally walk with confidence, speak your mind, and that you're finally accepting yourself as you are. I know you will reach those things that you have worked for all these years. Whatever has happened, do not forget to treat yourself, and others, with love and empathy. <3

Hi there! Today I'm super annoyed and a bit depressed. Two days ago I took a covid test at the airport as part of the standard procedure, just like I've done many times during to the past months. The surprise this time was that the result was positive! I couldn't believe it, I felt just fine, no symptoms what so ever. My first reaction was that it's fake positive and I need a new test. "Sorry" I was told "you need to isolate for 10 days, you are not allowed to go out and no one can visit you. Please remember to cough in your sleeve or hankerchief". But I am alone at home - does it matter how I cough! "Remember to wash your hands and clean all surfaces you touch". This is absurd, didn't you hear, I'm here all alone, my partner lives in another city! I didn't know if I should laugh or cry, I was just angry. Shouldn't have been really, the caller just did his job and ticked the boxes. Then I started feeling my body. Maybe I have a little bit of headache or sore throat, and surely I feel tired - am I sick? Maybe the symptoms come slowly. I'm vaccinated, so I won't die - or could I? What if I do get really really sick. Can I take a taxi to the hospital? The taxi driver would be in danger, maybe 112. Oh god, I think I go grazy...do I have enough toilet paper? So, that was yesterday. Today I still don't have symptoms, I just feel annoyed. That's a bit stupid of me, after all I'm lucky. I don't seem to get seriously sick, I can stay in my nice home. I can afford ordering food home. I don't loose my job or salary. So why do I complain? Only 8 more days and I'm free again.

Dear you, Cat, You felt so lonely for so long. You lived through a pandemic alone in a country you had just moved to, with just one friend, an apartment and a lot of thoughts. Your grandpa died and your mom got cancer, and you couldn’t be there. It’s not your fault. You got there when you could. You didn’t have time to process any of it because you had to constantly be present, act and be strong for your eveything around you and for them. It wasn’t fair, for any of us. Now you allow yourself to feel and you are lonely and sad, you miss having people you care about around you, you miss hugs, you miss meaning, you miss being yourself. It’s okay, do what you feel. Cry now. When writing this you have just decided to move away from Helsinki for some months and do some snowboarding and meet some new people, embrace other habits and maybe meet your tribe. I wonder where this letter is going to find you. Knowing you, you’ll be far and I wish with everything I am that you are happy and found meaning. Do not stop until you do, whatever that might mean. Live and smile, love and be, don’t just exist. I am very proud of you, you did your best and you worked for everything you are. I hope you always choose to be real and honest with yourself and choose happiness. The feelings of loneliness and sadness might follow you in this society but you shouldn’t learn to live with them. You need people to live and you should work towards the goal of the community you want. Remember who is left, who is important for you, always give them a call and show them they are your world and be mindful of the fact that everybody has lives and priorities. Be present and love, love everything around you and about yourself. Much love, A lonely you from the past.

Hello future Ola. I hope you are doing well and that your photography exhibitions are now spreading all over Europe and who knows, maybe outside too. I hope you and Marko are happy and that you are working together to become a better versions of yourselves. In one year when you will read this, be kind to yourself but also don't forget how much you have grown since. I love you.

3 months into the future, we will have covid circulating in rotorua new zealand. i am vaccinated as is my oldest, but my other daughter is 9 and catches everything. i am worried about what will happen to many of our local communities who are unvaccinated. it will be summer so that should help, but then we go into a long winter. i hope more people take the vaccine.

Dear Future me, Today is the 14th of October 2021 and I felt very anxious. My heart was beating very fast, my chest was heating up and covered by red marks, and my throat was extremely dry. I had to get 2 glasses of water and to do deep breathing exercises to calm myself down. I couldn't stay at the office, I was just walking in circles automatically, without realizing, so I decided to get my laptop and leave the office. On the way out, walking by the exhibition that I created filled my heart with comfort, it reminded me of what I am capable of, and encouraged me to look at the beautiful things and people surrounding me. Animals are pure. I wish that when you read me, you will have overcome your fears, that you won't let panic attack take the control over your body and mind. I hope that you learned how to trust. I you haven't yet: DO! With love, Your Past.

Keep calm and continue believe in power of art in life and work!

I keep finding words for my feelings, often, expressing and nurturing them. But what do I do when, once again, they are too much? I hope you keep being a better version of myself, with more strength than I have today. Either way the future could be better.

Hello future me, Today I feel grateful - so happy that someone on Facebook recommended this museum. Thanks God, Romanians live all over the world, so I was able to find it. As you already know, you did therapy during all this, and I thought I was fine. Only in a few sessions I really talked about my feelings during the pandemic. I thought I had no feelings at all. I know realized that there was a full universe of emotions which I somehow threw it far, far away from me. Is this a coping mechanism? I guess so. As a child, whenever my mother was beating me, I threw its memory and feelings about in that universe far, far away. Today I remembered and was able to identify how I felt, and how I am still feeling in this pandemic. I was pushing it towards my hidden universe. I thought I adapted. That I accepted it. Well, I was far, far away from the truth. I remember, like watching a retro film the first news I read online about this mysterious virus which killed Chinese people by suffocation. I felt their pain, but then my mind said "it's okay, they're far away". After few weeks, I was reading the news again - this time the suffocating virus was not far away - in Venice, Italy. I said to myself, that there are few hundred kilometers between my hometown Vienna and Venice. Should still be ok. Then my mind brought the Black Plague to my attention. "We're fucked. It's coming here too". I had towsands catastrophic scenarios going running in a tiring, infinite loop. In the evening you told Bogdan that you are scared, that they might not allow us to go outside. Then you went to Lidl. You didn't buy toilet paper, because your shitty in childhood you did use newspapers or other paper with success. I bought food. Lots of cans of peeled tomatoes, beans, mushrooms, oil, frozen veggies. Meat, lots of meat. Then flower and yeast. Lots of it too. I will never allow myself to be hungry again. And rice. Milk. Vitamin C, in case no fresh veg will exist. I was desperate and confused. And I knew the solution will be a full stomach. Three shelves full of food were not enough to stop the catastrophe which was approaching. In two weeks the first covid19 cases were identified in Austria, Tyrol. Only 400 km away. My mind was flooded. Somehow blocked. I will be jobless. My husband will be jobless. We have only 2000 eur in our savings account, and these are our monthly bills. Why did I just lent my brother 2000 eur? Why I can't just say no? We are going to lose our beautiful flat. Such a pitty, we only moved in November. Who will be living in my gorgeous open space steel kitchen? The economy will die! Inflation! A bread will cost 10 eur. We will live on the streets. Wait, we can go back to Romania. I hope that our parents will accept living with them for a while. We can help with the veggie garden. There will be food. In March we were sent to work from home. I had a new terrible job, and my colleague refused to help me. During online calls, breakfast, lunch, and probably every 5 minutes I was checking the worldometer website. More and more cases everywhere. The numbers were suffocating me to a corner. By mid April, I couldn't sleep. You drank lots o beer, you still couldn't sleep. You and I felt pointless, unintelligent, crazy, unloved and lonely. Started smoking again. One evening I was on the balcony. It was dark and cold. What if I jumped? I got terrified - I would probably not die, as I live on the 2nd floor. I started crying. I felt so desperate and couldn't focus. I was trapped in my own universe far, far away. I quit my job. Everyone told me I'm crazy. I felt to guilty and ashamed so I didn't even enroll as unemployed at the social services. Finally, I could sleep again. But not for long, as my mind told me that I do not have the right to be sick, vulnerable and unemployed. Summer came. Restaurants were open again. Peace was restored, Corona gone for the moment. In July, I threw myself I the arms of another job I hated doing. Ignored the red flags and anxiety attacks. At the beginning was fine. Then it went crazy. In November was a terrorist attack 2 km away from us and the second lockdown started. I was working 10 to 14 hours per day. Couldn't sleep. Couldn't eat. I only had beer. Felt bullied and overworked. Asked for vacation. Didn't get it. Had a panic attack during an online meeting. Panic attacks in the shower, while dreaming, they were following me all around. Haven't seen my family in Romania for one year and a half. I felt lost and alone again. Asked my mother for her love and support. She stopped calling me. I quit my job again. Christmas came. I cooked for 4 days and after I was able to sleep again. My last day at work was January 15. Still lockdown, it was getting longer by week. I didn't leave the flat for weeks or even months. Bogdan was going shopping. I slept for two months. I was empty and blocked in my parallel universe. In mid-May, after more than 6 months the 2nd and longest lockdown was lifted. It was such a long winter. I wore the winter jacket even in May. We went to celebrate Bo's birthday in a restaurant and it felt to alien to both of us. He visited Romania for few days, got his salvation covid19 shot. I got a bit relaxed, at least he will survive. In June I started a programming course. I did well. In summer was checking weekly when I could get vaccinated. Too young. One day they announced 10000 shots for people aged between 31 and 39. Victory! I woke up early and enrolled. When I received the sms from the Impfservice platform, informing me that I will get my first Pfizer shot on June 30th I felt like I just won the lottery. On August 4th got my 2nd shot. No pain, no side effects. Finally in September after getting antibodies I could visit the sea again. And I did. Swimming after two years in the sea felt so eliberating. In the week spent in Cyprus I almost forgot that there is a pandemic. I embarked on a plane again after more than 2 years. It was magic. The mask and checks did not bother me at all, only made me feel safer. Now I am looking for jobs, but still feel not ready and unprepared. I have huge panic and anxiety attacks before interviews. The 4th wave of the pandemic is here. In Austria, my home the numbers are decreasing, thanks to the vaccines. But in my other half-home, Romania hundreds of people are dying daily as they refused vaccination. I am scared for my family. I am terrified seeing the numbers of victims and sick people. And I get angry. Then scared again. I start blaming the government, the antivaxxers, the WHO, China. Then I feel ashamed of myself. For losing my empathy for the victims. As that is what we all are. We didn't go to the wedding of Bogdan's cousin. I was scared. I felt guilty. She got upset. It was last weekend. Yesterday, Bogdan's mother called us and told us that they got infected. The grandmother, cousins, kid, Bo's sister. I feel like I'm living a dystopia scenario. And I get angry again on the selfishness and ignorance of our fellows human beings. I don't know how I feel know. My emotions are spinning like a Las Vegas roulette. I am sick and tired of this shit. I hope all will be good. I hope we will survive. I hope we will accept it. I hope no more people will die. I hope politicians will not take advantage of our tragedies. I hope medical staff will hang on. I hope extremism will not rise. I hope people won't starve. I hope we'll take care of ourselves. I hope we'll still love each other. I hope me and you will learn something till next year. I hope me and you will get better together. I hope me and you will survive and still love each other. Hang in there! Thank you, You

As an ex-pat Finn, living in southern Poland, I'm about to go out on town with my husband and sister in law for the first time since the pandemic. My daughter was born in 2019 and is now old enough to stay the night with her grandmother. I feel insecure. It feels difficult to go out. As if i don't know how to do it anymore. I don't know how to plan it, dinner first and then drinks? Are the bars even open? What to wear, am i overdressed? Too casual? Makeup, jeez i forgot how to put makeup on, working from home behind a turned-off camera in my pj's since 1,5 years. In Finland last week all restrictions were lifted. So happy for my younger brother to whom I believe it means a lot This platform of reflection lightens my heart. Before going out i got a fantastic imaginative online museum experience. I'm so proud to be a Finn. Bye, I'm out!

Hellor future, Today I feel that people should accept and love themselves as they are! Of course this would be the most important step in the realtionship with the humans shareing the same planet. And what has this to do with the pandemics? Everything. As people started to hate the others for taking decisions that they don´t, even if nothing would change in their life if the others do like this. Oh gosh did I explained it good? I guess so. LOVE Freedom Acceptance