Dear Wise One,
The Future isn’t written in the Stars
It’s written in Jam Jars.

In a poignant love song,
Ben Platt
(of Dear Evan Hansen fame)
writes a deep truth about life and the future:
“I don’t know who we’ll become
I can’t promise
It’s not written in the Stars”

Platt is writing from his heart
and intuitively knows that
our future isn’t somewhere amongst the stars
but actually is being created now
as we make choices and grow.

His wisdom
is backed up by research
in a classic study known to psychologists as
The Jam Experiment.

In this experiment shoppers at a gourmet grocery
were presented with two tables of jam jars.
One table had 24 choices of jam to sample.
The second table had 6 choices of jams to taste.
Invariably, shoppers at the table of 24 were overwhelmed
and very few made a purchase
while the shoppers at the table of 6 jam jars
were able to select the jam they liked and purchase it.

What in the world (or in the stars!)
you ask
does this experiment have to do with
Life, Love, and one’s Future?

A Lot.

In his love song,
Platt is asking his Beloved to
“Grow As We Go”
To make choices
with what we have
with what we can do
with what we love.

This is how you create your Future.
By looking at the Jars of Jam
you have…
Your talents, abilities, strengths, and skills
Your priorities, interests
Dreams and Loves…
Your Six (or eight)
Jars of Jam.

And you start growing these Jars of You
Slowly…lovingly…strongly
with Yourself
and with Friends, Family, Loves
who champion and love you.

That is how you create
Your Future
And of course you don’t know
exactly what your Future will be
(no matter how old you are)
because you are creating it now
as you make choices, act, and grow.
That’s the wondrous part.

It’s also true,
as Platt writes,
that we are always unfinished
and have so much left to learn.

So dear Wise One,
Look carefully at your jars of jam.
Appreciate them, savor them.
Let them fill you with their
sweetness and promise.
Invest in them:
enlarge them, strengthen them
and claim them as your own.

The Future is not written in the Stars.
But it is seeded in your Heart.
So pay attention to your
Jam Jars

Photo by Autumn Mott Rodeheaver on Unsplash

You are growing your Future!

Love,

Sophia

PS For Reference:

“Grow As We Go” by Ben Platt from his Album Sing To Me Instead

The Defining Decade: Why your twenties matter—and how to make the most of them now by Meg Jay, PhD, 2013 Twelve Hachette Book Group

Where Is Your Future Written?