A letter to my 10 year old self

The year is 2008. You loved ballet with all your heart and soul. You will miss your grandmother deeply, as she recently passed. This year is an election year. You go to dance class, all the grown ups talk about politics. You are old enough to understand somewhat. John McCain is your hero. You were so excited to learn more about the presidential election. You got to witness the election for the first time you could remember. You grew up thinking, by the time I get to vote, there will be a female President. You loved being an American.

Flash forward to 2016. You are eighteen. Being cat-called on your birthday is not out of the ordinary. You are hanging out with one of your Black friends, someone asks, "Why are you hanging out with him, he's Black and you are White." The world is not friendly as it was when you were a child. Maybe it never was. You want to vote for the first time, but disagree with both options. It's November, a few weeks after the election. A guy on your college campus comes up to you and says he can grab you by the p*ssy because the newly elected President did it.

The year is 2020. It's another election year. A virus sweeps across the world causing quarantines and toilet paper shortage. Tensions rise in our country. Acts of hatred and injustice happen. You learn that not everyone is considerate as you thought. People fight over things when some have lost loved ones. 

This is not the world I thought I would grow up in.
I am so sorry Little Lily.

I will fight for your future in the next generation. It is time for real change.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jealousy

Image
Hey Gals! Sorry I didn't write last week! This week's topic is Jealousy. Ever been jealous of someone? Or someone's things? When ever you start getting jealous of something or someone, remember what you have. "Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another." Galatians 5:26 "A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones." Proverbs 14:30 See ya next week!
Read more

549 days later

*This post involves talk about mental illness and self injury, might be triggering for some readers.* 1 in 6 people struggle with self injury behavior. Half of them start in their early teens and continue into their 20s. Self injury is common in those who struggle with anxiety, depression, body dysphoria, and many other mental illnesses. Self injury isn't a mental illness in itself, it is a way people cope with their emotional pain. Today marks a year and a half, 18 months, 549 days since I last self harmed. I've been terrified to talk about these things because people are quick to judge. But telling my truth can help others. I was fourteen when I started using self harm as a way to cope with my anxiety. I remember the first time, I was so mad at myself for not being able to talk to a group of friends at a party. I left early. When I got home, I got so mad I cut my fingers on the back wire of my braces. Whenever I got anxious I would continue this behavior. Eventually I st...
Read more

to my mom

Image
  I remember being five years old and couldn't wait to grow up. I would often tell my mom I couldn't wait to move out be "on my own". I thought being an adult meant more fun than your mom telling you to eat your vegetables and to brush your teeth.  I remember being fourteen, getting ready for my first formal dance. I was so particular I would do my own makeup and didn't want my mom taking pictures of me. I remember stealing my mom's stick concealer, rubbing it all over my face and thinking it looked good.  I remember being eighteen, going off to college, but still living at home. I remember feeling so "lame" that my mom would not want me out at all hours of the night. I desperately wanted to live on campus. I remember being twenty-four. I graduated college and got my first big girl job. I packed all I had known as mine in cardboard boxes to move to the "big city" as five-year-old Lily wished many years ago.  I am twenty-six, in the living r...
Read more