You may or may not know this about me, but I dream of being French. I buy books in French and lovingly, painstakingly try to decipher the language. I play French music playlists when I’m home alone. I savor a good croissant and a jambon beurre like a sacred ritual. All of it feeds a dream I’ve been holding for a long time… a dream I haven’t yet lived.
Not yet. ✨
Recently, during one of my deep dives down a Parisian rabbit hole, I discovered something that stopped me in my tracks. In the heart of Paris, there is a café called Café Pli. Alongside coffee and pastries, they offer something extraordinary: a space to write a letter to your future self.
You sit at a bistro table, sip your coffee, and write a letter to the woman you are becoming. Then, Café Pli mails that letter back to you—one, five, or even twenty years into the future.
Can you feel how powerful that is?
It’s an intentional, loving invitation to connect with who you are becoming while honoring the woman you already are. And while I may not yet be sitting in that café (soon!), it got me thinking about how we might create this experience for ourselves—right where we are.
The start of a new year often comes with so much pressure. Pressure to transform. To change. To fix. To improve. To become “better.” We set goals, make vision boards, join the gym, create resolutions … and while I love all of that too, this year I want to offer a gentler, more expansive approach.
What if, instead of trying to transform ourselves—which subtly implies we aren’t enough right now—we chose to connect with our future selves, our truest selves?
Here’s my invitation to you:
Take yourself to your favorite café, or create a cozy corner at home. Bring out a beautiful piece of stationery. Light a candle. Order your favorite drink. And write a letter to the woman you will be five years from now.
Who is she?
How does she spend her days?
Who does she share her life with?
What lights her up creatively?
Where does she live?
What does she know now that you are still learning?
What do you need to hear to bridge the space between who you are today and who she is becoming?
How does she spend her days?
Who does she share her life with?
What lights her up creatively?
Where does she live?
What does she know now that you are still learning?
What do you need to hear to bridge the space between who you are today and who she is becoming?
Most importantly—how does she feel in her body and in her life? What does she embody?
Let Her serve as your blueprint for what you most desire and then reverse engineer your path from there. As you encounter decisions, relationships, investments, jobs, et al, ask yourself, “Does this xyz bring me closer to Her or further?” and use that information as your guide.
This exercise goes far beyond goals and timelines. It’s existential. It’s soulful. It’s an opportunity to step back from the noise of daily life and culture and reflect on what truly matters to you. To reconnect with meaning, purpose, and the way you want to experience this life.
I believe that this simple, loving letter has the power to gently guide our choices, clarify our desires, and redirect our paths—toward lives filled with intention, authenticity, curiosity, love, and presence.
A life well-lived.
A life rooted in joie de vivre.
Will you join me in writing a letter to your future self this year?
Avec Amour,
Jill ♥️