On Cherishing Our Past and Imaginary Selves

Can making sense of who we might have been help us understand who we are?

Once, in one of my unlived lives, I was a singer. It was the late 2000s, when the indie-rock phenomenon was having its commercial breakthrough and becoming popular enough for us novices to recognize the Smiths’ “How Soon Is Now” in the theme song of “Charmed” and most…