If I had a daughter I’d want her to know

she is valuable

she is good

she is likeable

she deserves to be happy

she can have what she wants.

I’d want her to believe

that there are ways to get what she desires,

to have experiences that uplift her.

Her happiness matters to me.

It makes me happy.

If I had a daughter I’d want her to know that she would be gifting me

by devoting herself to going after her most inspired ambitions;

if she did whatever she could to be delighted by life.

If she lived a small, shrunken life of responsibility and stuffed-away yearnings, my heart might break.

If, instead, she sailed yachts around the world, let herself be adored by fabulous men, treated her body to delicious food, luxuriated in the sunshine and if she shed tears of awe and gratitude for the extraordinary beauty of this world ….I would feel blessed.

By filling her heart, she would fill mine.