Retrospective Presence: A New Philosophy on Time, Memory, and Self

I'm standing in my old elementary school hallway at forty, in the exact same spot where I used to wait for my mom after class when I was six. Suddenly, I find myself wondering, “What would that little kid have thought if he knew the next time he'd stand here would be decades later, bringing his own child to the same school?”‍

That wondering, that specific moment of temporal curiosity, is what I call Retrospective Presence.

What Is Retrospective Presence?

Over the last few years, I've been exploring how our past and present connect across time and place. These thoughts became the philosophy that inspired the dual-timeline structure of my novel The Portrait of Eloise Leclair, but the concept extends far beyond fiction.

Retrospective Presence is when your present self thinks about your past self in the exact same physical place and wonders what your past self would have thought about the moment you're currently living, creating a conversation between different versions of yourself.

You're not just remembering. You’re connecting across time in a place that witnessed both your past and present.

The Experience in Action

This isn't just a hypothetical concept. It's an experience that most of us have had without realizing it. The power lies in that specific moment of wondering—when you're not just remembering who you were, but actively curious about what that person would think of who you've become.

That wondering is Retrospective Presence: looking back to where you once looked forward.

Why Physical Place Matters

You might ask, “So why does the location matter? Why can't you just think about your six-year-old self anywhere?”

Place matters because it creates a physical anchor for the experience. When you're simply thinking about your younger self in general, it's just nostalgia. But when you're standing in the exact same spot where your younger version once stood, something powerful happens:

• Places become anchors for memory and transform abstract reflection into real connection.
• Physical spaces witness our entire journey, holding both who we were and who we've become.
• Time collapses when past and present occupy the same coordinates, creating a deep temporal overlap.
• The wondering becomes specific. It’s not just remembering childhood generally, but connecting to the exact moment when your younger self was in the same location.

Without the shared physical location, it's just reflection. With it, it becomes this almost mystical connection where two versions of yourself meet in space, even though they're separated by time. When you’re open to receiving this, it really is a mind trip!

When Past and Present Meet

Retrospective Presence gives us several deep truths about our lives:

• We're in constant dialogue with our past. These moments remind us that we carry every version of ourselves we've ever been, and sometimes a place helps us feel that connection across time.
• Physical spaces hold emotional time capsules. Every location in our lives becomes a repository of who we were in that moment, waiting to be unlocked when we return.
• Personal growth becomes tangible when we revisit where we've been. The same spot makes your transformation concrete and measurable.
• The passage of time feels profound in familiar places. These locations collapse past and present into a single moment, allowing us to experience our whole journey at once.

It's not just nostalgia or general reflection. It's a specific tool for understanding your life's arc through the anchor of physical space.

How to Notice Retrospective Presence

Pay attention when you:

• Return to meaningful places from your past – your childhood room, old school, former neighborhoods
• Feel undeniable proof of how far you've come – the same spot makes your growth concrete and measurable, not just hypothetical
• Find yourself wondering what your younger self would think of you now – that specific curiosity is the key indicator

Beyond Personal Experience

This philosophy doesn't just stop with us. It goes deeper into our connections with each other and the spaces we inhabit.

We experience Retrospective Presence not just with our own past selves, but with all the people who once stood where we stand now. Places bridge different lives, different eras, all connected by the profound weight of "Who stood here before me?" and "Who will stand here once I'm gone?"

The Deeper Truth

Retrospective Presence shows us that we're always in conversation with who we used to be and how the past continues to shape our present. It's not about achieving dreams or living up to expectations. It's about recognizing the journey from then to now.

We carry our past selves with us, and sometimes a place helps us feel that connection across time. These moments remind us that our stories have continuity, that different versions of ourselves are connected by more than just time. They're connected by place, by memory, and by the thread of who we've always been, even as we've grown and changed.

Your Retrospective Presence

When did you last experience this? What moment made you feel connected to your past self in a specific place?

Maybe it was walking through your childhood neighborhood, sitting in your old bedroom, or standing where you once stood years ago. Maybe you felt that wondering, “What would my younger self think if they could see me now?”

That's Retrospective Presence. That's the conversation across time that reminds us who we are, where we've been, and how far we've traveled.

The next time you find yourself in a place from your past, pay attention to that wondering. You're not just remembering, you're connecting across time in a place that witnessed both your past and present. You're experiencing one of the most intense dialogues possible: the conversation between who you were and who you've become.

‍

Retrospective Presence is a philosophy I developed that inspired the dual-timeline structure of my novel "The Portrait of Eloise Leclair." It explores how physical spaces become meeting points for different versions of ourselves and others across time.

‍