Frank Ocean Writes Letter to His 18-Year-Old Self

If you could time travel back to your five-years-ago self, what kind of advice would you give yourself? This isn’t exactly new, but I personally find ‘letters to self’ rather interesting, so when I stumbled across Frank Ocean‘s, which dates back to 2011, I felt the need to write a piece on it.

One Frank’s Tumblr, he penned a letter to himself, a teenager he addressed as “Chris”, who would have his heartbroken not once, but twice. He tells his younger self that the emotions felt after the end of his romantic relationships will not totally hinder him, but infact help him write an album. He also tells his teenage self to not lose hope, because while most people aren’t going to recognizes his talent at first, they’ll eventually catch on as he grows more into his craft and masters his gifts:

hey chris,
your name is frank now..it’s a long story. your girlfriend is about to break up with you because of the long distance. it’s ok. & that job you’re working..well, you’re gonna have to work there for another year and some months.. & then you’re gonna get fired. you’re gonna work a couple more jobs after that too. nothing glamorous. kinkos and at&t if you really want the specifics. but you’re never gonna be homeless or starving. don’t worry you won’t fail and have to move back to new orleans either. you are gonna get your heartbroken though. twice. if it helps, the first one is gonna be worse than the second. contrary to how it feels, it won’t kill you. in fact it’s gonna help you write an album. yea, you finally finished an album. people like it man. you’re actually gonna write and record hundreds of songs. they won’t all be good and most ppl won’t think you’re talented at first, but you’re going to master your gifts. you’re going to become a lot stronger and wiser..even a little taller. be patient. i mean, you kind of have no choice. and be good to people. i don’t wanna spoil too much for you, but.. you’re on a plane right now to the east coast to work with kanye west & jay-z. it’s all working out kid. you made it.

How would you explain your current situation to your five-years-ago self?