We’ve all wondered about the things that could have been. The missed opportunities, the forgotten connections, even the unsent messages that live forever as forgotten potentials that never got their chance.
Many of these words were left unsaid for a reason — embarrassment, shame, or heartbreak — but far too many remain in that fraught corner of our minds that clings to the “what ifs” of the world. They also exist in a special corner of the web, recently rediscovered by TikTok, where people can go to reminisce on all the lost potentials of the past.
All thanks to a little site called The Unsent Project, which compiles all the unsent messages we could have seen, in another world. Its discovery by one TikTok user quickly prompted a pilgrimage, and now fresh users are flocking to the site in droves, and finding themselves mixed between bittersweet nostalgia and wholesome compassion, as they look back on messages they never got the chance to see.
The project compiles messages meant for people across the globe, and perusing them feels like a glimpse into the quietest corners of stranger’s hearts. Some are nothing but love — “I love you more than words can describe,” “You’re my universe, my everything, my sunset, you’re everything I wanted” — and others are heart-wrenching — “I wish I had known why you hugged me so tight that day,” “Come back, I’m sorry.”
The compiled messages read like a window into a million stranger’s souls, and users on TikTok were instantly taken by the discovery. They flocked to the site to submit their own messages, often for lost loves or friends who got left behind, and to plug in their own names to see what words were left for them.
Those with unique names are graced with both a blessing and a curse, since it’s easy to find responses — there was only one for my name — but there are also typically very few. Others, with names like Sarah, Josh, or Ash, will find dozens and dozens of responses, but they’ll never know which were intended for them.
The entire endeavor is heartwarming and wholesome, and a wonderful reminder that we all have quiet regrets and forgotten passions. It’s all part of being human, and the glimpse of our mirrored emotions, repeated by so many people we’ll never meet, is an uplifting experience. It’s also perfect fodder for TikTok’s most “delulu” denizens, who remain convinced that every single message under their name, no matter how strange, is intended for them.