love is all you need

When I was eight years old, there was this advertising campaign for milk that showed a little girl that looked just like me standing in front of a full-length mirror with a glass of milk. As she drank the milk she saw herself as she gradually aged, and her aged self would tell her about how great it was to grow up. (And make sure to drink your milk!)

I used to stand in front of my mirror with a glass of milk and try really hard to see what I would look like as I got older. I would consider my big brown eyes that I wished were blue, scraggly permed hair, and multitude of freckles that I wished weren’t there and just really couldn’t see how I would ever look like an adult.

Nineteen years later I look in the mirror and I still see those same big brown eyes and multitude of freckles. (I stopped getting perms a long time ago, thankfully.) I’m pretty surprised to find that I still look so much like that little eight-year-old me did and I really can’t pinpoint what it is that makes me look older now, though I hope it is wisdom.

If I could look back through the mirror and talk to my eight-year-old self, I’d tell her not to worry about feeling awkward and embarrassed. I’d tell her that the feeling never goes away; you just get better at ignoring it. I would tell her to find something she loves doing (which I know will eventually be knitting) and do it a lot. I’d tell her to take more risks, because she’ll learn so much about herself every time she does. I’d tell her to drink her milk and stop worrying about those freckles, cause they’re not going anywhere anytime soon. I would tell her that she is beautiful and smart and worth the hard work it takes to become an adult.

Today is my 27^{th birthday and I’m glad to be where I am.}