Dear sister,

 

1. Stay up to watch the sun rise

2. Learn to play piano

3. And guitar

4. Sit in nature at 6am and sing to yourself, even though the damp grass tickles your legs and everyone else is asleep

5. Don’t let anybody tell you that you’re worthless

6. Don’t ever think that you’re worthless.

7. You are not, nor will you ever be, worthless.

8. Don’t hurt yourself on purpose, enough people will hurt you already.

9. People will hurt you. 

10. Fall in love with the wrong person. 

11. Deal with it. 

12. It’ll hurt.

13. Grow your hair out until it flows down your back like a waterfall.

14. Dance.

15. Take dance.

16. Learn to dance so well that you can pirouette fast enough to power a lightbulb

17. Don’t do anything you don’t want to do.

18. Except for your homework.

19. Do your homework.

20. Dance in the rain until you’re shivering and your soaked clothes cling to your body.

21. Sing to cats, they like it.

22. Sing to kids.

23. Just sing in general.

24. Sing until your throat feels like it’s been assaulted with steel wool.

25. Drink tea, with honey.

26. Honey is liquid gold.

27. The way warm tea slides down your throat is better than drugs.

28. Be smart about drugs.

29. Do drugs if you want to, but be safe and careful.

30. Read.

31. Read everything. All the time.

32. Read every trashy romance novel you can get your hands on.

33. Read classics, outside of school.

35. Read Sophocles’ Antigone.

36. Find a book that’s your favorite and read it over and over until the pages become worn.

37. Form your own beliefs.

38. Quietly question everything.

39. If you think something is wrong say so, loudly.

40. Don’t take anything sitting down.

41. Stand up straight.

42. Learn which scents comfort you.

43. Start with a vanilla candle.

44. Learn to cook/bake to survive, not to promote gender roles.

45. Ignore gender roles.

46. Ignore anybody who doesn’t treat you with respect.

47. You don’t deserve respect, you earn it.

48. You are not above or below anybody else.

49. Treat everyone with common decency.

50. Everybody deserves basic rights (even if you don’t think they do, its not your decision).

51. Peel a lemon like an orange.

52. Let the lemon slice explode in your mouth like an eruption of sour.

53. Stay outside to watch the sun bleed gold.

54. Try to mix a sunset paint color.

55. Keep trying until your butt gets sore, or mom makes you go inside.

56. Don’t take mom for granted.

57. Don’t let your dad give you shit.

58. Your dad kind of sucks.

59. Don’t let anybody put you down.

60. Let people pick you up.

61. Wear sweaters.

62. Knit sweaters.

63. Respect vegans.

64. Respect the way water flows around your hand but also resists.

65. Reflect on how you can apply that to life.

66. Ponder life.

67. Write.

68. Write everything.

69. Carry around a notebook and protect it with your life.

70. Be honest when you write.

71. Be honest with yourself.

72. Trust people.

73. Trust the right people.

74. Don’t take anyone’s shit.

75. Be fair, and kind.

76. Don’t let people convince you that sex doesn’t mean anything.

77. Virginity is a destructive social construct.

78. Be careful who you trust with your body.

79. You are not your body.

80. Your body is skin and blood and cells, you are a person.

81. Stay healthy.

82. Be strong, but don’t be afraid to cry.

83. Don’t be afraid of asking for help if you need it.

84. You will need help.

85. Understand courage.

86. Learn CPR

87. Pushing air into foreign lungs is rewarding.

89. It’s okay to not know what you want.

90. Your IQ, grades, and/or school do not define you.

91. Figure out what defines you.

92. Refuse to be defined.

93. Love freely, but not carelessly.

94. Do not take all advice as fact.

95. Wear a long dress when its windy to feel your skirt billow around you.

96. Watch movies (but never before the books) and don’t be afraid to cry at them

97. Cry for fictional characters.

98. Know that it’s okay to not be okay.

99. Find a reason to exist.

100. Find a reason to watch the sun rise.

 

Sincerely,

Your sister