Dear Younger Self,

Had I written to you sooner, I would have warned you of all the trials you would soon endure. I would have warned you to change everything about yourself because that will be expected of you regardless. I would have told you of the heartbreak and the harmful words that would fill your brain and make sleep an impossible need.
Just like you, however, I am growing.
Though we have many years between us, you and I are the same. One soul, two timelines, both longing for the same thing: love, in its purest and most beautiful form. A love without definition, one that’s ever-changing yet constant at the same time. One that is without a doubt patient, kind, and gentle.
It seems so simple to your young brain, to love someone completely and fully in that way. How could anyone ever deprive you of such a wonderful thing?
One thing you will learn is that love is much more than just a thought or a feeling—it is complicated, messy, and chaotic. It is staying up until ungodly hours of the morning talking about your dreams and aspirations, but it is also wailing in the shower under the burning sear of the hot water because, god, how could they do this to us?
You will meet a man who leaves bruises and scars each time he touches your skin, yet shouts at the top of his lungs that he loves you.
You will meet a woman who saves you from a darkness that never should have gone so deep and reminds you of who you have always been meant to become.
You will love them both, and they will show you two entirely different versions of what love is supposed to look like. You will question everyone’s intentions with your fragile heart.
One day, however, you will begin to love yourself, which is the most important lesson you will ever learn in life, but it will also remain the hardest choice you will ever have to make daily.
You will blossom into who you are meant to become, find little things you love in this world, and your smile will return to you as if it had never left in the first place.
Today, the soul we share is happy, even after all we’ve experienced in this life. Don’t give up, kid, because you’ll find it—the spark that will set your heart ablaze. You just have to keep going.
Sincerely,
You.