I’m at my favorite Starbucks for writing these days. \u00a0Michael is on his way to Salt Lake Comic Con, and my wife isn’t\u00a0feeling so great this evening, so I’m on my own. \u00a0It’s time to warm up with a blog post, then get back to editing.<\/p>\n
After connecting to the wifi, the\u00a0Starbucks login screen presented me with the question: Would you rather change the past or see the future? \u00a0I selected my answer with almost no hesitation, then checked the results.<\/p>\n
What would you choose? \u00a0Why?<\/p>\n
According to the results, 35% of the other 47,000 people that answered the question would change the past. \u00a0Most people would rather know the future.<\/p>\n
This is a somewhat\u00a0profound result. \u00a0Without any other data, I’m left to wonder about the other people that answered the question. \u00a0Are the past changers people\u00a0plagued with regret? \u00a0Are most of the people taking the poll young, with their\u00a0eyes focused on the future? \u00a0Are future knowers\u00a0just looking for an easy way to win the lottery?<\/p>\n
As for me, I would change the past. \u00a0I think it’s the right answer.<\/p>\n
I would go back and have more meaningful conversations with my father before he passed away. \u00a0I would enjoy my time in school more. \u00a0I’d have more fun with my friends, and spend less time afraid of things I shouldn’t have feared the first time around.<\/p>\n
I might try to warn the world about the follies of electing George W. Bush. \u00a0I might try to warn about September 11th before it happened. \u00a0I’d love to make the world a better place by stopping disasters, but I don’t know if it would be possible. \u00a0There are some truths people are unwilling to accept even when presented with evidence, and what evidence would I have? \u00a0It’d be like trying to warn about global warming.<\/p>\n
Knowing the future wouldn’t necessarily be a good thing, in my opinion. \u00a0I’m reminded of a Twilight Zone episode. \u00a0In it, a robber died while trying to rob a bank. \u00a0In his\u00a0afterlife, everything he attempted\u00a0succeeded. \u00a0He won every hand at cards. \u00a0All his schemes were successful. \u00a0He no longer experienced danger. \u00a0Then, he stopped taking\u00a0joy in his accomplishments, because they were all hollow. \u00a0At the end, he asked his host, “What kind of heaven is this?” And his host said, “Whoever told you this was heaven?”<\/p>\n
I believe knowing the future would be something like that. \u00a0The mystery of the future is one of the great joys we take for granted. \u00a0The unknown\u00a0of the future is the power behind anticipation. \u00a0It’s what makes discovery so thrilling.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0life I’m living is good. \u00a0My desire to change the past has nothing to do with changing my present condition. \u00a0My wife loves me dearly. \u00a0My children are healthy, happy, decent people. \u00a0My job is great, and I’m proud of my accomplishments. \u00a0I don’t want to give any of that up.<\/p>\n
At the same time, there are experiences that I let slip by. \u00a0As with my writing journey, fear stayed my hand more often than it should have. \u00a0To turn back the clock and be bolder would be a real gift.<\/p>\n
As opposed to spoiling the future, the way one might spoil the end of a good book or movie. \u00a0No thank you.<\/p>\n
What would you choose?<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
In other news, Blog-tober is quickly approaching. \u00a0Once again, I’m going try and post something every day in the month of October. \u00a0It’s a great exercise in preparation for November.<\/p>\n
Speaking of November, I’m going to try and have the second draft of The Repossessed Ghost<\/em> done before then. \u00a0I’ve made some huge progress the last few weeks. \u00a0I want to have it done and in the drawer before I start a new story.<\/p>\n Now, dear friend, let me ask you something I’ve never asked before: Is there anything you’d like me to talk about here, on this blog?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’m at my favorite Starbucks for writing these days. \u00a0Michael is on his way to Salt Lake Comic Con, and my wife isn’t\u00a0feeling so great this evening, so I’m on my own. \u00a0It’s time to warm up with a blog post, then get back to editing. After connecting to the wifi, the\u00a0Starbucks login screen presented […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":721,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720\/revisions\/721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}