TIVOLI JENSEN

Dear August,

Dear Girl,

Dear You,

Today is Day of the Girl.  Today is a once-a-year-should-be-every-moment revolution spark for female equality.  Perhaps you haven’t seen it yet, but sometimes boys get a leg up simply because they’re boys.  Sometimes a boy will deserve a job, and sometimes he’ll be hired because where you have an X, he has a Y.  Sometimes a boy will be listened to before you can even get a chance to open your mouth.

But know that this is changing.  Know that this world sees you, for you, and is working to give you just as many opportunities.  I’m working to make sure that doors that are closed off for me, are wide open for you.

Because I want you to be successful.  I want you to not just break the mold, I want you to shatter it, to dance upon it, to cry to the skies because you’ve conquered it.  I want you to be the President of the United States.  I won’t say I want you to be the first–by the time you’re thirty-five, there will already have been nine other Presidential Elections– just to be realistic, though I think the first should be you.  I want you to be the CEO of a Fortune-500, and I want you to get the salary deserved for it.  I want you to be a Stay-at-Home-Mom.  I want you to be an astronaut, a hair stylist, a blogger, a grocery checker, an actor, a dreamer, a doer.  I want you to do the things you want, because you want to.  Because you want to, and because you can.

I want you to be intelligent.  I want you to know the extent of your mind and the brilliance of it.  I want you to use your thoughts to solve problems, to share ideas, to give compliments, to show kindness, to choose courage, to create wonders.  Your mind is amazing.  Some, of course, will try to label you and your mind.  They will try to say you “can’t,” you “won’t,” or that you don’t “understand.”  But herein lies the secret, my wonderful girl– in these tiny moments of doubt, you have the control to prove them wrong.  You can.  You will.  You are smart.  Your mind, full of synapses and matter, is the thing that will bring the world to its feet.  You deserve education, you deserve the opportunity to read all that you want, without fear for what it might say about you.  You can cure cancer, you can find the new species of Orangutan, you can write the Great American Novel.

I want you to be happy.  I want you to understand your emotions and revel in them.  In the sad times, in the mad times, in the glad times, I want you to see the full spectrum of you.  Your emotions are a part of you.  Many will try to write you off or discredit your ideas and passions because of these things called “feelings,” but know you are the richer for them.  You feel, my girl, because your heart is big and your mind is full.  Without sadness, how can you know full happiness?  Without the needling of complacency, how can you know true adventure?  Your emotions are important, and your control of you is important.  Your emotions do not hold you back, they propel you forward.

I want you to be loved.  Not by the world (though that is nice, too), I want you to be loved by you.  The world has its own ideas for how women should look, act, feel, breathe, but you do not need to listen.  You do not need anyone to tell you about your body, or your mind, or your spirit.  You were not made to be caged.  You were not made to be put on a shelf.  You were made to be you.  You were made to live this one life, in your tiny-for-now shoes.  I do not want you to squander this gift of life by obsessing over a mirrored reflection, or a scale’s number, or the price tag of the shoes you’ll make your mark on the world in.  I do not want you to let the world dictate how your body should be by their standards, because yes means yes, and cupcakes are delicious, and you are a human being capable of critical thinking.  In your life, I want you to breathe deep with your lungs, and run far on your legs, and dance wildly on your feet, and hug tightly with your arms, and to speak passionately for the millions of others who may not be as lucky as you…

Oh, my daughter, my friend, my girl, I want you to know that you can see anything, be anything, and do everything that you put your mind to.

You were not meant for the audience.  You were meant for the stage.

Every bit of my love is yours.

Love,

[ Unless you want to design the lights or just really like the theatre, then that’s perfect, too. ]

[ learn more about #DayoftheGirl here: Day of the Girl ]