To myself, at fourteen...

When I was you, what I knew to be true was not the truth today.

You are lovely, you are strong, and you deserve love- without a need to grovel.

You have seen so much already. Your hands have clawed their way through dirt and loss and heartache- and you have emerged clean on the other side.

You have been touched by people who love you, and by people who just love their hands on you. 

You may feel like you’ll never be clean again.

You may feel like you aren’t whole.

But you are. You are a mountain, a fortress, a goddess. 

People can worship at your feet and never even know the unrelenting beauty inside you.

You have the power within you to heal through your words, your art, your love.

You have the power within you to become something more than what you’ve been told by those who think they know what you’re capable of.

They are just projecting their own insecurities onto you. 

Trust your intuition, believe that you are worth something. You are worth everything.

Specifically, break up with that boyfriend. 

He’s not worth your time and will do you way more harm than good in the long run.

Forgive your parents when they aren’t perfect. They are fallible beings like everyone else. 

Hold them close because they won’t be around forever.

Self-care is so important. Did you know that you are gifted with the use of color? 

Meditate on the color purple. Put on a face mask and take a hot bath. 

Spend more time in nature. 

Sing at the top of your lungs and love what you love unabashedly.

There will be times when it seems like your body is failing you. Nurture it. 

When someone says that you are being dramatic, a hypochondriac, it’s all in your head, know that your intuition about these things has always been correct.

Read. As much as you can, whenever you can.

You are strong, you are wonderful, you are enough. 

Do not worry about me, you’ll see me sooner than you think.