Five Years Before

y guess is it was a blog post recapping Warren Buffett's letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway that planted the seed for the dream that has me up at such an obnoxious hour. His letter mentioned some things he wished his company had not done, and some things it should have done even more.

So following logically from that, I had a dream that took me back five years (of course it is the dream world, where I know it is five years, though I didn't look at a newspaper or ask someone who the President is or any of that cliché time traveler stuff). Aside from knowing I was five years in the past, the only things I remember in the dream are warning an English major that the economy/job market is going to have a downturn, and while it is always a bad time to be an English major, this is like the worst time ever. And a young, thin, bearded, Paul Giamatti was the friend/teacher? of this star-crossed student. The other part of the dream was me and Paris Hilton and her mother shopping in some boutique for Paris' 21st Birthday. I was sort of their personal assistant, and was the only one of the three who had small enough bills to tip the boutique assistant for the free bottle service to sample, in two ounce plastic cups, a fine Champagne we'd gotten in a two pack, (Classy, I know. The two pack was two Champagne bottles in a decorative pink paper gift bag).

My take away from the dream is that I wouldn't change anything. In the dream, I remember thinking, I don't need to tell myself to do anything to change his future. Now that I'm awake, there are some things I'd like to tell my past self, but nothing more than exercise more, Christ hasn't come in five years, and maybe some strategic relationship advise, nothing big.

How about you? Are there some things you wish you could tell yourself five years ago that would change your current life?

The drop cap is from Jessica Hische.