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Dear little one,
You will not have to live this way forever. Practice finding joy today in the small things you see.
Surround yourself in a rainbow of butterflies.
Enjoy your food. Be awake to what makes you happy. Ignore the negatives in your world. You will leave them behind soon enough.
Do not despair. One day you will have a camera that will see the world as you do.
That boy with the blue eyes from the record store? He’s the one. When he offers you a ride to town, say yes. When he tries to break up with you, say no. When you picture the two of you old together, it’s true.
When your family does all they can to make you miserable, know that it is them, it is not you. They haven’t even noticed how unloved you feel. They never will. But you can love yourself and give yourself all the things you missed.
The snappy true come back to your Dad’s disappointing decision is “I couldn’t be any more lonely than I am now”. If you don’t think of this until you are over 40, that’s okay.
If you practice doing things that you are not immediately good at, you might get good at them. Find someone with a dog so you can learn to catch and throw a ball. The more you try, the better you will be at it.
Do not starve yourself.
Contrary to what you think, you will not die and destroy your mother with loss. The lack of nutrition in these critical years will create some very difficult health issues when you are older. You are going to live a very long time and these issues will always be there.
Computers will be more of your life than you think. Learn how to learn them as soon as you can.
You are stronger than you think. Your body is good at building muscle and keeping it, at lifting more than you can imagine.
That thing you decided to forget. It’s okay, I won’t go looking for it.
You can let it go.
You will learn compassion. It will blossom during a time of great loss. Your heart will break open again and again, only to pour more love into the world.
The very kids who isolate you now will claim they admired you for your intelligence and felt you were a leader. They didn’t know any better way to treat you.
You are right, everything you need is within you. Yet you will learn from many sources just how to unfurl this.
One day you will find your people.
You will call them Soul-Family
This will be beautiful. Lush. Empowering.
In the meantime, soak in all of life. Remember the moments that make your heart sing.
With hugs and butterflies,
~Teresa~
This post has been inspired by many sisters I have been reading recently, including:
Amanda Farough
Ronna Detrick
Karen Sharp
Sara Blackthorne
Wholly Jeanne
Mrs. Mediocrity
Jesse Blayne
Tanya Geisler
Sandi Amorim
Dara McKinley
Amy Palko
Julie Daley
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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
That must have been a tough post to compose, Teresa. Lovely and soulful. Hugs to your 13 year old self, from my 13 year old self. I am glad we have been able to grow and blossom, emerging from the painful experiences of our childhood/young adulthood as strong, caring women.
When the time is right, the words flow smoothly. This was one of those times. Straight from the heart, no brain in the way to stop it.
Thank you for the hugs! I’m so glad we grew up to be such wonderful women!
Butterflies to you,
~Teresa~
PicsieChick recently posted..All these tiny voices call to me and my lens
this is so beautiful, so heartfelt, i can feel that it was one of those times. (i know those times).
it would be so wonderful if we could go back and tell our thirteen year old selves these things, wouldn’t it? but then we would miss out on all the things that taught us these truths.
that you are at this point now, that this wisdom has found its way into your heart, is enough.
you truly are a lovely butterfly.
xoxo
Thank you, Kelly. This was one of those times when words just flowed out and my final post was only a few words different from my first draft.
I guess because the words were ready to come out, this wasn’t a painful process. In fact, I could feel my younger self releasing her grip on my insides.
Life really is good, really is filled with wonder and joy, and draped in grand mystery. And made o so much more sweet with soul-family connections.
Hugs and butterflies,
~Teresa~
PicsieChick recently posted..To my thirteen year old self
This is so beautiful, Teresa. I’m honored to be part of your inspiration. You…and your 13-year-old self inspire me.
Ronna recently posted..Miss Representation
Thank you, Ronna. I’m so glad you’re here with us in this soul-family. And grateful for your prompts to tell truth. The truth is, people in that family of my 13 year old self may read this. And they should.
Hugs and butterflies,
~Teresa~
PicsieChick recently posted..All these tiny voices call to me and my lens
We can’t go back but what if we gave all that love and compassion to ourselves now? Lovely thoughts T.
xoS
Sandi Amorim recently posted..Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Ah, Sandi, I think that all our selves are with us as we go through life, so this release, these reminders, are a gift of love and compassion to her that I can feel from here.
This was a heart-expanding flow of words. But the response? Humbling, loving, busting my heart even wider open.
Thank you, my sister!
Hugs and butterflies,
~Teresa~
PicsieChick recently posted..Message of the Infinite
wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could actually leave these love notes for our younger self?
The best I can do some days is to give them to my daughter..
Thanks for this…
Ah, my friend, my sister, we can send this love to our younger self. When I wrote this, I *felt* her! She was flooded with love, compassion, and sudden confidence. My own body felt her happiness expand.
But to also share your love notes with your own daughter? Beyond wonderful. And necessary. Please do so.
Hugs and butterflies,
~Teresa~
PicsieChick recently posted..She feeds me through my lens
Beautiful words that inspire self-care and self-love. You are truly wise and wonderful, and I wish we could go back and tell that to your 13-year-old self.
Meredith recently posted..#MondayMeditations Cultivating Yourself While Sick
Both my now-self and my younger-self thank you. You have told her. (and she always suspected as much)
Hugs and butterflies,
~Teresa~
PicsieChick recently posted..My one word for 2012: small
You thoughtfully, honestly captured the creation of a beautiful soul.
Thank you.
Jesse recently posted..Practicing What I Preach
Jesse, thank you! We are constantly creating our beautiful souls, aren’t we? With all of their mis-cues, lacks and unwise decisions, they gleam and shimmer for everyone to see.
Hugs and butterflies,
~Teresa~
PicsieChick recently posted..Alive in Gratitude
This is so beautiful, suffused with luminousness and love, that it makes me cry.
I am so honored to be a part of your soul-family, and even more so, to be a source of specific inspiration to you. So honored, more than I could possibly express.
And time spirals much more than we think. It’s only linear, or even only just experienced as linear, to our rational mind. Our soul knows true, that there’s no such thing as linear time. Sending sincere, courageous, and heartfilled love (and pride) back to a prior self is a tangible act of healing and change, that makes a genuine concrete difference in our present and future. I’ve seen it happen again and again, in my shamanic work.
Such a profound blessing from you to you.
And the 13-year-old’s love of YOU, her own commited bond to her future self, living and loving with the blue-eyed boy from the record store… that’s also what sustains you now, in enough compassion and abundance for you to send love back to her.
Which comes first, her love for you, or your love for her? Unknown, and it doesn’t matter. It’s all spiraled together like the swirl of a flower, blooming, unfurled.
Karen Sharp recently posted..all heart, all love
Such love in your words, Karen, thank you!
There were moments back then when it felt like there was a message, an importance that I could not ignore. I especially think of the offered ride (I did say yes), the suggestion to break up (I did say no), and the vision of us old together (it felt as truer than anything I had yet known). For me to see that his eyes were as blue as his car, as he drove past and looked back at us…how did that even happen? For me to think his car was nice? On second viewing, not even a little bit. But it was a magical moment, remembered forever. Perhaps because I sent this message.
The spiral of time opens an Infinity of possibilities. And yet, there is only one thing I wish I could change. Or maybe I don’t. Would I have found my soul-family without this?
Hugs and butterflies,
~Teresa~
PicsieChick recently posted..the weight of feelings
sugar, love pours out of your heart every single day, and the world is a better place because of it. i read this with tears streaming. so honored to be included here, such talented, loving, intelligent, beautiful women, each and every one. and here you are, bringing us together in the way only you can do. thank you. thank you. thank you.
wholly jeanne recently posted..sticky note: following the cloth crumbs
Jeanne! I just want you to know that I can’t wait to hear you call me sugar in person. And to hug you for a really long time. And often.
These connections are lifeblood to us, are they not? I’m honoured to be part of the web that keeps them illuminated.
Thank you, sister, friend, goddess.
Hugs and butterflies,
~Teresa~
PicsieChick recently posted..Message of the Infinite
Teresa, This is beautiful. What a gift to yourself, to that young you. And, to all of us. Your words and images always open my heart.
Julie Daley recently posted..Are You Breathing?
This is so gorgeous! How significant it is to go back and comfort our younger selves and encourage them (us) to heal as deeply as we were wounded. Your words are striking and I love this idea of writing to our younger (less knowing, more vulnerable) selves. Thanks for sharing.
What a great feeling to visit on your blog. Thanks for the inspiring thoughts.
jossette726 recently posted..Oven repairs Melbourne
Excellent and moving post! The lines that touched me the most are “Enjoy your food. Be awake to what makes you happy. Ignore the negatives in your world. You will leave them behind soon enough.” It makes me feel how mortal we are, how short life is and how we take life for granted. We do not even know whether we will be living tomorrow or not yet we leave a plethora of activities to be done “tomorrow”. This post teaches me to live each moment to the fullest. For this one thing has to be bored in mind “Live the present, tomorrow may or may not be there”
Nicolas Cailot recently posted..Nombre de Dunbar : ce que notre cerveau de primate implique pour Facebook et la politique
Very inspiring blog post! I am motivated by it. First I read it and then I heard it through the recorded version and I found it brilliant. I was listening to it while doing my work and the voice with such soothing words calmed me and relaxed me. Thanks
for sharing (especially the recorded version)
Bayard Coulombe recently posted..Home trainer pas cher
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