Karen carries pictures of where she’s going. Kara carries memories of where she’s already been.

It started with a water bottle.

I found one that could be personalized with photographs, and immediately thought:

What if those photographs weren’t memories from the past?

What if they were memories from the future?

So Karen got a new accessory.

And, as usual, Kara had something to say about it.

Karen Discovers the Future Memory Bottle

Karen is delighted with her creation.

Wrapped around her water bottle are little photographs of experiences she hasn’t actually had yet.

There she is doing yoga by the lake.

There she is horseback riding.

And there she is playing with Kazi—her future cat.

They aren’t photographs documenting where Karen has been.

They’re pictures of where she imagines herself going.

Suddenly, an ordinary water bottle has become a portable collection of Future Memories.

Karen doesn’t have to remember to sit down in front of a vision board. She doesn’t have to open an app or pull out a journal.

She picks up her water bottle…

and there she is.

Apparently the Future Needed a Straw

When Karen proudly shows her creation to Kara, Kara has to admit that it’s rather clever.

In her words:

“Well, that’s one way to solve the vision-board problem. Apparently all it needed was a lid, a straw, and somewhere to put the future.”

Karen, naturally, takes this idea one step further.

She takes a drink.

“I’m literally drinking in my future.”

Kara gives her the look.

“Let’s not get carried away.”

But underneath the joke is an idea I really love.

What if reminders of your future simply became part of your everyday life?

Not something you have to remember to practice.

Something you naturally encounter.

Your Vision Board Doesn’t Have to Be a Board

We’ve been taught to make vision boards by collecting pictures of things we want and putting them somewhere we can see them.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

But I keep wondering why all those pictures have to stay on a board.

A Future Memory could become the wallpaper on your phone.

It could sit in a frame on your desk.

It could be tucked into a notebook.

And yes…

It could be wrapped around the water bottle you carry everywhere.

The object isn’t important.

Seeing yourself in the picture is.

Instead of looking at a photograph of a beautiful lake and thinking, I’d like to go somewhere like that someday, you can create an image of yourself standing beside that lake.

Instead of looking at someone else riding a horse, you see yourself in the saddle.

Instead of imagining the pet you might have someday, you see yourself playing with your future cat.

The picture becomes personal.

And the future becomes just a little more familiar.

But Kara Doesn’t Carry a Water Bottle

Of course she doesn’t.

Kara has other ideas. 😉

At the end of Karen’s little water-bottle discovery, Kara looks down at the elegant clutch she’s carrying.

And suddenly I realized something.

Karen and Kara are both carrying memories.

They’re simply carrying them in opposite directions.

Karen has her Future Memory Bottle.

It holds pictures of experiences she is imagining and creating.

Karen carries reminders of where she’s going.

Kara has her Keepsake Clutch.

Kara is Karen’s future self.

So perhaps Kara doesn’t need to carry pictures of things she hopes will happen.

As far as Kara is concerned…

they already did.

Inside her little clutch are keepsakes from those memories.

Maybe there’s a ticket from the Broadway show she attended.

A hotel key from Paris.

A photograph.

A seashell.

A cocktail napkin with something scribbled on it.

Something from an awards ceremony.

We don’t really know yet.

And that’s half the fun.

Because Kara’s Keepsake Clutch is beginning to develop a suspiciously Mary Poppins-like quality.

I have a feeling we’re eventually going to discover that considerably more fits inside that little bag than physics would suggest.

Two Women. Two Ways of Remembering.

This is what I love most about Karen and Kara.

They’re the same woman viewed from two different places in time.

Karen looks forward and says:

“I can see myself there.”

Kara looks backward and says:

“Oh, I remember that.”

Karen’s bottle contains pictures of a future she’s learning to see.

Kara’s clutch contains keepsakes from a future she believes she’s already lived.

And somewhere between the two of them is the present.

The place where those memories actually get made.

What Could You Carry With You?

You certainly don’t need a personalized water bottle to create Future Memories.

But I love the idea of finding little ways to put images of your future into your everyday environment.

Create the picture.

Then don’t hide it away.

Put it somewhere you’ll stumble across it.

Let yourself see that woman again and again.

Not because looking at a picture magically makes something happen.

But because every time you see her, you have another opportunity to ask:

What could I do today that moves me a little closer to her?

Karen may carry hers on a water bottle.

Kara prefers a rather fabulous clutch.

The question is…

Where will you keep yours?

✨ Create your first Future Memory free at FutureMemoryMaker.com

See it. Remember it. Become it.

— The KARA Effect