I recently heard someone suggest that it’s a healthy exercise to consider the idea of what he called, “living life backwards.” What did he mean by that? He explained it as letting your past thoughts, actions, and decisions inform what you’re doing in the present. That approach really resonated with me.

I have found that at some point in life, connections start to form when realizations come about stitching together past thoughts with the present. You start to see the patterns of the way you’ve lived your life so far, and the way you’ve evolved. I experience these epiphanies as a comet suddenly streaking through my thoughts and lighting up my brain.

Another way I think about this is to consider the song by Carole King -’Tapestry,’ the first verse, which says:

My life has been a tapestry

Of rich and royal hue

An everlasting vision

Of the ever-changing view

A wond'rous woven magic

In bits of blue and gold

A tapestry to feel and see

Impossible to hold

This weaves together so beautifully the idea I’m looking to express here.

Think about it -how does your past inform your present? You’ll likely come up with some epiphanies of your own.