As your godmother, I am partly responsible for your spiritual education. Important stuff. I am so incredibly honoured because you, Mabel, are one of the biggest spirits in a little person’s body (make that any-sized body) that I have ever witnessed.
In celebration of the day you were born, I wanted to share some advice to help keep your spirit as strong and shining as it is today…
Always, always believe in magic.
Magic is what your soul already knows exists.
Trust the magic and it will eventually reveal itself to you.
Dream big…
And then get ready to fail.
Fail often and spectacularly well. Don’t be afraid of it.
You see, if you’re not failing, you’re not really living at all.
The only time you don’t mess up is if you do absolutely nothing.
So when you’re messing up, know it’s because you are truly alive.
The only path to success is through failure.
The bigger the dream, the greater the failures, and eventually the sweeter the success.
All I ask is that you get out there and try, Mabel. Always try.
Find “your people”.
You don’t get a lot of them, Mabel. But you’ll know ’em when you meet ’em.
And they might not always be who you expect.
But “your people” are the handful of characters you can be completely yourself with.
They are the people who love you because of who you are, not in spite of it.
Your mother is one of “my people”. One of my favourite people.
You can choose to wear basic brown shoes…or wear your BRIGHT GREEN ones!
Show the world exactly who you are in every way you can think to express it.
Wear the green shoes! Wear the fancy pink sequins! Be entirely, uniquely you.
I say this because it’s a huge lesson it took me a while to get.
You see, the only way you can ever feel love is if you make yourself vulnerable enough for people to really see you.
If you hide your quirky, awkward, weird parts and only show people the stuff you think they want to see, you risk something really strange happening.
People may love you. But it won’t get through because who they’re loving is not really you at all.
So be yourself. Always. Trust me on this.
Kiss and hug the people you love.
Do this often and well. Like the hippos in the park…
After all, love is something you do, not something you say.
“Be a good one”, Mabel.
I don’t care what you choose to do with your life.
Whether you are a teacher or a doctor.
A mother or a wife.
A truck driver or a nuclear scientist.
A dancer or a student.
Or all of the above.
Or none of the above.
What I do care about is whatever you decide on – that you “be a good one”.
Show up.
Commit.
And please don’t wait to be good.
Don’t wait for something better “out there” to arrive before you agree to do the work necessary.
Start with what is right in front of you. Be good. Now.
It might sound simple but it could be some of the hardest work you’ll ever do.
Choose love.
You have two choices in every single moment.
Love.
Or fear.
Choose love.
People might tell you to play it safe when it comes to love. They may tell you to protect yourself. To only pick the people that will love you more than you love them.
But that’s not love. That’s just plain fear and control.
So even when you’re scared. I’m going to ask you to be brave. Go after who and what you want. No matter how it turns out, honour your heart’s call. Love fiercely and deeply.
Choose love. Always love, baby.
Remember that you are a perfect, divine creation of God.
Not too long ago, I sat by the side of your bed when you asked me to pray with you before you went to sleep. You asked your Mommy not to turn out the light because God wouldn’t be able to see you.
You thanked God for your toys. And your mommy and daddy. For your teachers. For the bugs. And for the butterflies.
You are God’s child.
And I swear, I could not have been prouder than when you won the Principal’s Award for “Stewardship of Creation”. For those who don’t know what this is, it’s an award given to a student who takes care of God’s creations (human and natural). Little Mabel knows how to do this better than most.
(Mabel is in the purple shirt at the very front, middle – look at her cuteness!).
This award is better than any Pulitzer Prize.
And my great hope is that you keep caring.
Even when people don’t care back.
Even when it’s easier not to.
Keep caring.
What you have learned in your first few years of life can take many of us a whole lifetime to understand.
All of us who love you (and we are a mighty crew) will remind you of who you are right now. Your openness. Your goodness. Your light. All of this is you.
And when things get dark. And the lights are turned out. Trust that God can still see you, Mabel.
Know that we can all see your bright, beautiful spirit. And our lives are better for it. So shine on my dear godchild… shine on.
The world is in need of your light.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY with loads of hugs and kisses from Auntie Erica in Manhattan
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxox