This month we celebrate the one year anniversary of our project, Letters to Our Daughters. Thank you Amy Lockheart for letting me be a part of this this blog circle of letters. When I go back and read the letters from the past months, they bring back so many memories. Thank you for giving me a an hour of pausing each month, to think about and write to my girls, the reason I do everything I do.
Even if my daughters don’t love these letters in the way they were intended, I know it will bring me back to this time in my life with young girls and my valiant attempt at figuring out what I want them to know and learn about life.
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN – by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Dear girls,
This past month, one of you got a short hairdo and the other a pair of glasses. And we ran into our two friends, Vanity and Fear.
Vanity is not necessarily a bad thing because when we feel it rising up within us, it is an opportunity to check in with ourselves. A chance to see what is really going on and figure out why exactly we care so much about what other people think of us, especially our outward appearance. Some of what you felt was not vanity though, it was just nerves. Nerves too are not a bad thing. That tingling you feel, your heart beating a tiny bit faster in your chest, it comes before you face a fear, be it public opinion or just bringing attention to yourself. But when we face that fear and stare it down, we grow immensely as kind humans inhabiting this planet. We cross another small bridge into becoming a new, improved version of ourselves. And the best bit is that the next time you are faced with a similar situation, you will step into it again, still nervous but knowing that you will come out on the other side and be okay.
Those who don’t face their fears, who always take the safe route, perhaps their hearts are better protected. But in my head I imagine that heart behind bars, instead of flying free in the sky to new lands and opportunities. As a mother I want to do the first, hope you take the safe route, cushion your hearts with bubble wrap and keep you safe from hurt or harm. But how selfish would that be of me, to not share your magnificent hearts with the rest of the world? So I take the road less travelled, face my fears, in the hope that you take it too.
I love you always and forever and most of all.
xo, Mummy
10 Responses
oh rashmi, your wise words always take my breath away. so perfectly put and so eloquent. what a beautiful heart and mind you have :).
Such wise words from a wise mother who certainly loves her girls with all her heart. You are such a great role model, Rashmi, and the lessons you are imparting to your girls will be life long ones, the kind of ones that will know so well, feel in their hearts, and, most of all, live. Your girls are so beautiful. xoxo
I am so glad I stopped to read your letter today Rashmi. The words are so beautifully written and the lessons are so huge. I love seeing your heart and what it is guiding your daughters to see and and feel. Thank you for sharing.
Reading your words to your two sweet girls just gives me such an inspiring feeling. I love her carefully and thoughtfully you think about what they might need to hear. You wake me up every single time you post. xoxo
“cushion your hearts in bubble wrap” oh yes isn’t this just the most perfect set of words that describe what being a mom is all about. in fact all of your words rashmi are such a wonderful lesson put so beautifully so perfectly. you my friend are one amazing mother!
Rashmi, every time I read your letter I think how wise you are – how you always seem to say things I want to say but don’t know how to phrase – 2 beautiful lessons in this one that I again, want to bottle up and store – thank you x
i really slowed down and took this word by word, and i felt as if i was stepping up slowly to a better view of the world. the same way i feel with every wise and careful and earnest as can be time you put your heart into words. you tell the truth in a way that is both gentle and with force. you call us to attention. and you are so loving i can feel it from across the country. there is nothing empty about you, nothing that pretends at things, only who you have learned to be, and the great hope and expectation that your daughters will soar. you teach us all. how i would love to just spend a whole day with you, talking about the world and politics and kids and kindness and books. i hope, i really do.
Rashmi, your always speak the truth with so much wisdom. Every time I read your letter, I feel that I am also learning something new and I can implement in my own life. I am so glad to have met you. I can see your girls growing up into amazing strong individuals. xoxo
Beautiful images.Beautiful words.
My beautiful friends, thank you for reading and your kind words. xoxo