a letter to my younger self

Dear Leah, 

First off, your hair is awful. Not gonna sugarcoat it. 

It's kind of terrible. 

 You have not learned that your hair is too thick to be as short as it is. 

Just...no.

Grow it all out.

For the sake of me looking at those pictures in a few years, grow it out. 

Secondly, you're not a fashionista. I know you have big dreams of how a fashion designer in disguise will stumble across your designs when considering buying your house and offer to move you to paris to become his apprentice, but no. 

Sadly that never happens, and your sketches were not that great.

(except for a couple. i would wear some of those, actually.)

But please consider other career options.

Don't be afraid to be confident. Right now you're so scared of people judging you, and you have to hide behind a plastic personality. But it's okay to love Taylor Swift and Broadway musicals. It's okay that you like to read. It's okay that you actually enjoy art class. 

It okay to love whatever you want to.

Also, those "popular" girls you're absolutely terrified of? You'll never see any of them again. So just do whatever you want, because honestly, life is so much better when you like who you are.

Yes, it seems like none of your friends actually like you right now. But that's just not true. You're going to meet your best friend this summer, and it's all going to be okay. And the friends you supposedly hate you? You're going to get a lot closer to them, and they're actually kind of amazing people. Friends are so great, and again, you're just so scared that no one will like you that you just don't try.

Okay.

BOYS.

Yep, you think they're stupid now. And honestly, where you at, they are. But you either keep trying to impress every boy that crosses your path, or run away from them, terrified. 

NOPE.

Boys make some of the best friends ever. They will bring their Percy Jackson books to school for you to read. They will practice your band music with you. They will sometimes buy you cookies in the cafeteria.

And yep, some of them get really cute too.

So...just consider boys, okay? They get a lot better. 

One last thing real quick.

QUIT TRYING TOO HARD. 

You're not going to be the most popular person in school, probably. You won't be the vision of perfection that you want to happen so badly. Trust me, you'll be way happier with yourself.

Way happier.

Love, Your Future Self