My daughter is in that awkward stage in between childhood and adulthood.
When her childhood was in full bloom I, empath that I am, enjoyed having a second childhood by deeply connecting with her innocence, the simplicity and joy of her always being here and now, and her endless creativity, enthusiasm for life, and never-ending playfulness.
Now I am having a second adolescence, and it is just as meaningful.
Through connecting with what she is going through, the need to belong and the need to stand out doing competing for attention inside her psyche, I’m giving both her and my inner teen-ager tons of empathy, feeling all this love, tenderness, and compassion for her unique journey, as well as the hell I went through when I was her age.
I can feel her insecurities, bless them, and see the ‘everything is cool’ mask that she is wearing to cover them up, and love and bless that.
I barely survived adolescence, and still have some scars that are coming up for healing, healing that is happening naturally by honoring my daughter’s rites of passage without judgement.
She is doing fine and dandy.
I wrote this Spiritual Dr.Seuss piece for her teenage years a while back, as a love letter to her future self, a love letter to my past, and a love letter to all teens in between two worlds, going through the messy process of crossing that slippery, tenuous bridge towards adulthood.
May my words of rhyme help them feel more seen, heard, honored, and maybe even a little more comfortable in their own skin.
