What Did Your Teenage Self Dream Of?

Let’s rediscover the beginnings of your desires, the roots of your life list.

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“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”
— Langston Hughes

A Quick Recap

Last week, we began our Life List journey with just one line—a single dream, joy, or curiosity that makes you feel alive. That one line was a seed, a way of saying yes to yourself again—to wonder, to possibility, to aliveness.

This week, we’ll listen for another voice—the teenage self who once held big hopes, wild ideas, or even quiet longings for the future.

A Note from Me

I’ll be honest: I don’t remember much about my teenage dreams. I do recall saying I wanted to be a housewife, but looking back, I know that was less about a dream and more about survival. My dad died when I was young, and I carried responsibilities long before I was ready.

In the prime of my teenage years, I met my ex-husband, and my own dreams stopped. Later, as a single parent, responsibility only deepened—I carried it everywhere, in my work and in my home life. Though I once named “housewife” as my dream, what I truly lived was a life of holding everything together for everyone else.

The whisper from that abandoned self sounds like this:

“Please don’t forget me again. Let me dream. Let me choose joy.”

And today, I honor her by living differently. I’m learning to do only what I love—not what circumstances force me into. I’m setting boundaries that protect my energy, my time, and my joy. In this way, I am slowly bringing her back to life.

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Guided Meditation – Teenage Time Travel

Before you begin this week’s journaling practice, I invite you to pause and listen to the Teenage Time Travel meditation.

Let it guide you gently back to your younger self—the one who once dreamed, doodled, and wondered who she might become.

You don’t have to remember exact details; simply notice how it feels to connect with her. Let any images, feelings, or whispers rise to the surface.

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This Week’s Practice

After listening to the meditation, take a few quiet moments with your notebook.
Invite your teenage self—or the part of you that feels long abandoned—to share a whisper.

Exercise:
Past-You Whisper

Write down one dream your teenage self once held. Don’t worry if it feels silly or far away—just let it land on the page. Then, beside it, write how your today-self might bring a tiny piece of that dream into your life now. For example: if you once dreamed of being a dancer, maybe today you put on music and move for five minutes.

This week, let that whisper be your companion—a quiet reminder of what still wants to live within you.

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Closing Thought

Keep this whisper alongside last week’s one-line dream. Together, they’re shaping the contours of your Life List—a list not just of things to do, but of ways to come alive.

Your teenage self may have been silenced or set aside, but she hasn’t disappeared.
Listen closely—she still has something beautiful to teach you about courage, joy, and becoming.