We will be our future selves then.

“Only the future revisits the past.” As we depart, we leave the past behind, go out into the world, and return as someone new. We need to find our future, or allow it to find us.

If only there was a way to track these daily fluctuations. I would love to see how and where my daughters have changed from the time they wake up and head off into the world, to when the return with stories of their adventures.

When does that shift begin to slow for us? When does our departure from our present self begin to mean less? At what point do we stop embracing the adventure and begin to dread the routine? It probably has something to do with living our lives for someone else and losing our self along the amidst the routine.

If our departure is not important to us, if we stop recognizing the act of leaving ourselves as unavoidable and essential, if we forget that with each departure we leave ourselves behind in search of our future selves, are we really leaving? Are we really stepping into the world? Are we opening ourselves up to the future, to discovery, to growth?

What if we plan each daily departure with the same anticipation and excitement as a departure for a vacation, or even a work trip? Instead of waking to our alarm and jumping into the same routine—all on autopilot—why not start the night before, why not set up an itinerary and pack for the day and research the places we'll see, why not be more deliberate with our departures?

Let's give a fond farewell and a meaningful embrace and linger within the goodbye before we step into our daily adventure, before we leave our loved ones and our home ourselves. Let's celebrate where we've arrived, then depart as if jumping from a plane or boarding a boat headed into uncharted territory.

“Only the future visits the past.” This person we are now as we prepare to embark on this next daily journey, this person will not return, we will be our future selves when we return. Honor that departure, shine some light on the departures of loved ones, leave space for each other to come back as someone slightly new.

Imagine if we arrived at the end of the day around the dinner table or tucking our loves into bed and had stories of transformation to exchange. How might that further open the future and influence what we will imagine as possible?