Sea Spirals and Time Travel
a delicate pairing
Hi friend,
Let’s say you travel back in time 20 years ago to talk with someone who you know today, but hadn’t met yet back then. What could you say to them that would convince them that you know each other in the future?
I posed this question to my boyfriend, thinking we’d go right to childhood secrets. He had questions.
—Would you be naked?
—Why would I be naked?
—Because your clothing can’t travel back with you! He says this like it’s so obvious.
—Don’t worry, I’d get some clothes.
He pressed further.
—Would you be showing up as your current age in the past?
I imagined my 20 years older self approaching him on the street. No, definitely not.
—I would be the age I was back then.
—And would there be multiple versions of yourself running around in the same time line?
—No, let’s say there’s just one version of me.
—Okay, but that’s not just time travel, that’s more like a body invasion where your current self steps into your past self.
—Um... (to be fair I should have known that he would want to continue with the *very real technical details* before we could proceed).
—What would you say to me?
—I’d tell you that we’re together in the future.
—Then what?
—Maybe instead of waiting 20 years, we’d start our relationship then.
We both pondered this. Who would we be without the history of those prior relationships? If we met 20 years ago, would we even be ready to be in a relationship with each other?
As I mentally filtered through memories, I thought of all the rough lessons I’d learned from past relationships and instead of wishing they’d never happened, I felt a sense of gratitude take over. It felt like I could let go of the idea that there was any lost time between us. It’s one thing to say “everything happens for a reason,” and it’s another thing all together to actually feel that resonate all through your body.
So we turned off the DeLorean and went back inside.
But still, best to be prepared.
—I’ve never told anyone this before, but when I was seven…
In other news, I made these sea spirals. It was fun and challenging to draw spirals that were both calculated and free-form.
I usually stick to one or two mediums, but for this one I didn’t hold back - pencil, ink, watercolor, watercolor pencils, markers and gel pens all made it into the mix. That, combined with turning the paper often to create a sense of flow and motion, felt a little disorienting. They came out a bit spacey and futuristic as well. Kind of like time travel, right? 😉
Hope you’re having a lovely day.
xo
Tanya
…”Who would we be without the history of those prior relationships? If we met 20 years ago, would we even be ready to be in a relationship with each other?”
Wow. I have been in a relationship now for—as of this month May 11th will be 26 years. He was/is my fourth husband. (What WAS I thinking!??)
Knowing now what I didn’t know then when we first met, I would have told him I wasn’t ready to get together so soon. I was barely 3 years sober and not quite divorced from 10 years with #3. So it would have been, (should have been), A hard no!
Now that we are over 20 years in the future. I would have waited to get to know him, and he me. He probably still would have wanted me, but I think I would have just not ever gotten married again. In fact, I know now I would not have! Now that I’m 71 and living on SS, our marriage is an arrangement of convenience. TMI. LOL! I have my own bedroom, he has his, and “Never the Twain shall meet.” The only thing we do together is watch netflix at night before I go to bed at 8:17. (Really LOL! I start to fall asleep at that strange time.). He stays up later and I never know when he goes off to bed.
But I get to come and go as I please, he does his thing, and It all works for us. But if I had it to do over—I wouldn’t.
What great food for thought! My hubby and I have talked about this. We are both on our third marriage, and he has often said he wished he would have met me earlier. However, I know I wasn't ready for him back then. He's a good man, stable, positive and always has my back - reminds me of my dad. I didn't want that years ago. I was into the bad boys, the excitement, and even the heartache. I would have passed him by. So I'm glad we finally met in our 50s, and are happily married for 17 years this September.