A Little Whimsy for Your New Year

As part of a college scholarship application, one of our members was asked to write a letter in the style of Dr. Seuss.  To satisfy this requirement, she wrote a letter to a young girl incorporating REbeL themes.  Her wonderful work is below . . .

Dear little tot,

Now little girl, your young life will be grand. You’ll sing and you’ll dance and you’ll play in the sand. You’ll receive hugs and laughs and bundles of smiles. And you, my dear, will live like a child.

But one day, those child-sized slippers will be a little too tight. And it might be that mother’s slippers feel a little more right. And one day, dear girl, you’ll pick up a Vogue or flip on the TV. And you, precious girl, will not see what I see. You’ll see beauty and glamour and stars that shine. You’ll think to yourself: “What if all that was mine?”

You’ll then try to look like everyone else. And in the process, you’ll lose some of yourself. It won’t happen quickly – it’ll be real slow. And one day, in the mirror, you’ll see someone you don’t know. And that is the saddest thing that can be. For finding yourself again isn’t easy.

But I need you to remember, I need you to know, that you are worth it. 100% so. True beauty, my friend, is found in the heart. The mirror is surface, and from it you’ll part. Little by little, you will soon see, that your laugh is much beautifuler than those on TV. And even slowlyer, you’ll remember who you are. And you’ll find old pieces of yourself in your room or the car. And you’ll piece yourself together and, my dear,  you will shine. Brighter than a star or a planet (yours or mine). You will dance, and you’ll sing, and you’ll play in the sand. And you’ll be radiant like only you can.

And from now on, wherever you go, you will know it my girl, 100% so. You’ll change the way you see, not the way that you look. You’ll see beauty in yourself, and others, in every cranny and nook. And you’ll tell others and they will soon see: true beauty lives in everyone. In You and in Me.

And you will be happy, and life will be grand, you will reach out to others and you will hold hands. And you’ll shout your secret all over, from South to North Pole: “Dear world,” you’ll declare, “beYOUtiful!”
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REbeL™  ©Kaitlyn Custer, 2011