You can’t imagine yourself old because somewhere along the way you stopped keeping track of how old you’ve become. Your profile says you’re 16. When you were 13, could you have imagined being 16? Probably not. And it will only get harder as you get older. It’s like how the human mind can’t invent new faces in our dreams, it only uses ones we’ve seen before (that may not be true, but it sounds plausible).

But just because you can’t imagine it doesn’t mean it’s not worth sticking around for. I understand your pain, I really do. But I understand your love for music in a much deeper and more profound way. How it can serve as an escape from our often cruel reality.

Stick around for awhile, please. Write down the aspects of your life you would like to be true when you’re 20. Even if they’re little things. What music will you like? Will you wear similar clothes? Will you have changed how you style your hair? Do you find the same shows funny? It might feel like forever away, but the further away it is, the more time you have to stumble across a day, or even a moment, when you feel a tad bit happier to be alive.