--- title: Our Story description: Learn how Dear Past Me began and why it exists—a home for letters to younger selves, sharing hope, healing, and belonging. --- [Skip to content](https://www.kindredcreativityclub.com/our-story#main-content) ![Dear Past Me 2026-3](https://www.kindredcreativityclub.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Dear%20Past%20Me%202026-3.png?width=1200&height=330&name=Dear%20Past%20Me%202026-3.png) - [Home](https://www.kindredcreativityclub.com) - [Letters](https://www.kindredcreativityclub.com/letters) - [Submit](https://www.kindredcreativityclub.com/submit) - [Our Story](https://www.kindredcreativityclub.com/our-story) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Home](https://www.kindredcreativityclub.com) - [Letters](https://www.kindredcreativityclub.com/letters) - [Submit](https://www.kindredcreativityclub.com/submit) - [Our Story](https://www.kindredcreativityclub.com/our-story) Our Story Earlier this year, I made the difficult decision to close the Kindred Creativity Club. Not because I no longer believed in its values, but because I realised I had tried to do too much, too soon. What had begun as a dream of creating connection through creativity had grown into something I could no longer sustain in the way I wanted. Even so, one idea refused to let go. One of the projects I'd planned for KCC was a charity anthology called Dear Past Me—a collection of letters to our younger selves, sharing the words we wish we'd heard during life's hardest moments. Around the same time, I wrote a personal essay on my author blog about looking back through old journals and discovering that, despite everything I'd experienced, the core of who I am had always remained the same. The response to that essay reminded me that I'm far from alone. So many of us carry words we wish we could send back through time. Words of hope. Of reassurance. Of belonging. Of compassion. That's when I realised Dear Past Me deserved to become more than a single anthology. It deserved to become a home. Today, Dear Past Me is an ongoing collection of letters from people around the world, each offering the kindness, understanding, or encouragement they wish they'd received when they needed it most. Some letters are joyful. Some are heartbreaking. Some are quiet reminders that healing is possible. Together, they form something larger than any one story—a growing reminder that none of us are truly alone. Although the Kindred Creativity Club has evolved, its heart remains the same. It still believes in connection. It still believes in compassion. It still believes that stories can change lives. Dear Past Me is simply one way of putting those beliefs into practice. Thank you for being here. Whether you've come to read, to write, or simply to know that someone else understands, I hope you find something here that reminds you of one simple truth: You have always been worthy of hope. --- About the Founder Hi, I'm Clare. I'm an author from the West Midlands, UK, writing stories of hope, connection, and belonging. As a queer, neurodivergent writer, I've spent much of my life exploring what it means to find your place in the world. Those themes appear throughout my novels, my essays, and now here in Dear Past Me. When I'm not writing, you'll usually find me reading fantasy, designing book covers, embroidering something delightfully nerdy, or spending time with my husband and our two children. I created Dear Past Me because I believe stories have the power to remind us that we are never as alone as we think. Thank you for trusting me—and this community—with yours. ![DPM logo (1)](https://www.kindredcreativityclub.com/hubfs/DPM%20logo%20(1).png "DPM logo (1)")  A home for letters of hope, resilience, connection, and belonging.  [facebook-f icon](https://www.facebook.com/DearPastMe/) [instagram icon](https://www.instagram.com/dearpastmeletters/) [Follow us on Facebook](https://bsky.app/profile/dearpastme.bsky.social) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.threads.com/@dearpastmeletters) [Follow us on Facebook](mailto:kindredcreativityclub@claredugmore.com) **Privacy Policy ** We respect your privacy. Personal information collected through our submission and contact forms is used only to review submissions, respond to enquiries, and communicate with contributors. Your email address and other private information will never be published or shared with third parties without your consent. You may contact us at any time to ask how your information is being used or to request its removal.   **Accessibility Statement** We are committed to making Dear Past Me welcoming and accessible to all visitors, including disabled and neurodivergent readers. If you experience any difficulty accessing the site or reading its content, please contact us. We welcome feedback and will do our best to help. **Terms & Conditions** All original letters, artwork, and other submitted material remain the intellectual property of their respective creators. By submitting a letter, contributors grant Dear Past Me permission to edit it lightly for spelling, grammar, formatting, clarity, and accessibility, and to publish it on this website and associated social media accounts. Submissions are reviewed before publication, and publication is not guaranteed. Contributors may request that their work be amended or removed at any time. Website content may not be reproduced elsewhere without permission from the relevant creator.   This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.  © 2026 Dear Past Me. A Kindred Creativity Club project.