Letter to Daughter

Daughter Dearest,
Do you know there actually was a time, not too long ago, when it was ugly to be slim. They used to call it “Rawlings Chain”, “Nchanga” and other not-so-positive names. Today, they say it is ugly to be fat so many young women have become anorexic or malnourished, too afraid to gain some weight. But who is beautiful? What is beautiful? Beautiful is the girl you see when you look in your mirror. Smile at her and she’ll smile back at you. She is beautiful. You, is beautiful.

You are not being fair to yourself, if you allow some “expert” dying for attention, or some TV presenter wearing 20 pounds of mascara and artificial boobs or some junkie with a microphone and a guitar, or some over-photoshopped beauty queen to tell you who you are, when they don’t even know who they are. You are the pretty girl in the mirror who smiles back at you when you smile at her.

Daughter Precious, today’s society has specialized in throwing stones at the special, the unique, the talented, the blessed, the honest, the faithful, the deviant or anybody who refuses to join the masses but it is not a crime to be different. It is not a crime to be better. It is not a crime to be content. It is not a crime to not want to join the club. It is not a crime to be you. If we’re to gather all the stones we hurl at each other, can’t we build enough beautiful homes till no one is homeless in the world?

I was shocked to learn that the only place in the world to find gold, diamond and many other precious stones is in ugly, brown, earth. I thought for how much they cost and how well they shine, people plucked them from the moon and stars but I was wrong. Daughter darling, remember to never look down on yourself when you fail or feel like dirt. You are full of many precious stones and if you look inside you well enough, you’ll discover them. Your beauty and relevance can’t be determined by another. Not even by me, your father. God made you beautiful and precious and mortal.

Lovely, you know there’s so much I want to tell you but it might take forever and you may not remember them all so I’ll end with this: Enter each day with Joy. Enter each relationship with Joy. Approach your next client with Joy. Smile at the Prince and smile at the frog. Joy has nothing to do with them. It has everything to do with you. And when you smile at them, most of the time, they will smile back at you. Because just like you, they are beautiful.