Dear younger me,
You have a bright future ahead.
This might sound a bit silly, but I love this stock photo above. I catch myself admiring it every now and then. The girl reminds me of younger me. The inclination for art and music, the zest for life, and the looks, to some extent.
Here’s an open letter to younger me. I thought I should share it with my followers, for the vibes. There are many personal references in it I don’t feel like explaining — I’d rather my readers related to the general context, if they relate at all, instead of trying to find out what the details are. I’m sure there are many people with similar stories in the world.
Dear younger me,
You have a bright future ahead. It’s unfortunate that you live with discouraging people who seem to be dead inside. No, it’s not just your impression.
If I could physically travel to where you are, young girl, I would beat them up real good. I would avenge you and your sweet innocence — Metaphorically for the most part, but literally when they run out of arguments and try to use brute force. Yes, it’s a “when”, not an “if”. You were right about that too (So you did well when you started hiding to prevent these people’s rage. It wasn’t a weakness. You should give your intuition more credit!). It’s incredibly disheartening that some adults won’t pick on someone their size, you know.
The adults around you envy you. I’m here to confirm. It’s your zest for life they can’t stand seeing. It reminds them too much of what they suppressed, sacrificed in themselves, in exchange for “fitting in”.
They won’t admit any of that. Instead, they’ll pretend to just be “worried” about you, or “trying to help” by pointing out flaws in everything you say and make to show the world, calling you “selfish” or “a show-off”. No, it’s not concern. It’s not helpful. It’s envy. THEY are the selfish show-offs because they constantly show off their misery to fish for everybody’s pity and solidarity. That’s attention-seeking. What you’re doing, sweetheart, is far from that. You’re having fun. You’re bringing a smile to people’s faces. You light up the room like a little sun.
That’s why some shadowy people can’t stand you.
I’m writing this letter to tell you, younger me, that you’re not alone in perceiving what you perceive. But you won’t find a confirmation for that just yet — because you’re surrounded by miserable people who want to make everybody miserable too. These people try to sabotage your happiness, just to see that captivating smile of yours fade away and your enthusiasm get lost somewhere in the rubbish, where your beloved art projects also ended up.
Dear younger me, you have to promise me that you won’t let them win. Okay? Can I count on you for that? Give me a colorful high five.
Listen to me, love.
You have to be strong. I won’t sugarcoat it. I wish I could hug you and protect you from these attacks. You did nothing wrong, my little seer. You did not deserve any of that.
I understand that you internalised some of those insults disguised as “concern”. It’s okay. But we can undo that together now.
- You’re not “selfish”. They lied. Selfish people don’t share. You’re always sharing your joy with others, and that’s beautiful.
- You’re not “seeking attention”, you’re just being real. These people don’t know what it means to be real. They’ve been trapped in this world of facades and people-pleasing for far too long. They’ve forgotten that each person is unique. We would all stand out, each and every one of us, if we only knew the meaning of living from the self and not from the ego.
- You’re not “doing it all backwards” with every activity. You’re experimenting, testing things out many different ways. This will come in handy with the oracle here in the future. I thank you, younger me, for doing this groundwork so soon. Close-minded people will be close-minded. Let them stay fearful and running away from the unknown as much as they want.
- You’re not “too loud”. Your voice is powerful! Don’t let anybody tell you to speak softly when you’re not feeling like it.
- You are “strong-willed”. That is true. But people make it sound like an insult, when in fact, they’re just jealous. A strong will is a quality to strive for, and they know that.
You’re a young child with a lot to learn, but you also happen to have some things to teach. And it’s because of this quality — these lessons you bring the adults in your life — that you end up being the target of so much hate, so much manipulation and attempts at sabotage. Some adults have been indoctrinated; They believe, like a dogma, that anyone younger than them can’t possibly teach them anything. They’re wrong… But this is a lesson they can only learn when they feel ready. There’s nothing you can do about that.
In fact, younger me, I hope you learn that you can’t save them. I understand where you’re coming from by trying… But you can’t save them. They can save themselves — when, AND IF, they open up to that possibility.
I do believe that there are many great things, many valuable things these adults could pass down to you… Because they’ve lived and they’ve seen more than you. But unfortunately, for that to ever happen, these adults need to overcome their feelings of envy against you. And in order to overcome envy, they need to start SEEING themselves for the gifted, interesting, loving human beings they are deep down. But again, this is a choice for them to make. You can’t persuade them to love themselves and stop competing, younger me. Sadly, you can’t.
Do learn witchcraft — it comes in handy.
Do listen to the wind, to the earth, and to the sun.
…But don’t believe, even for a second, that it’s “your mission” to free anybody from delusion. Your mission isn’t to live in function of anybody else in particular. Nobody has that kind of mission. In fact, it’s not a mission, it’s called enmeshment.
You need to live for you. And in living for you, it becomes possible to pave the way for others to do the same. We can all live for ourselves, side by side, interacting and helping each other, but never EVER dimming our light so that someone else can stay fearful of shining bright.
Why should fear win in the end? It doesn’t. Love wins. That’s the only truth.
With love,
Lucy.
