Dear Heart,

I want to start off by saying that you are doing a great job. I know you probably don’t hear it enough, but seriously, you’re awesome. I am so proud of you for everything you do. You truly are the real MVP. Your gentle murmuring in my chest never fails to comfort me when all else has become chaos and I don’t know what I would do without you.

I know better than anyone that things have been difficult for you in the past. It’s hard to fill spaces that were once full, and even harder to remain whole under all the pressures of life: homework, college applications, heartbreak, and more. When you are sad, I feel it in the drop of my stomach, the lump in my throat, the soundtrack of my sighs. But, it has become clear to me that you are allowed to skip a beat every once in awhile. I would like to affirm that you are free to feel whatever is stirring inside of you, even if it’s not always joyful. Sometimes the only way to heal is to open up the floodgates and let your emotions, thoughts, and memories encompass you completely. Never hesitate to do so, if that’s what you need. The worst tattoos can be covered up and reconstructed into something more beautiful than before. I would like to think that the same goes for the deepest aches, the most unpleasant wounds.

Some may criticize you for feeling too deeply, loving too strongly, sinking too quickly. Don’t listen to them. It’s your prerogative to see the truth better than anyone else. How you react is only a side effect. Yes, I will admit you are irrational, uncontrollable, and a little too optimistic at times. You are not always right, but I have never known a time when you were completely in the wrong. You are made up of wedding bouquets, ticket stubs, faded photographs, kind smiles, and melting ice cream cones. You are much stronger than you know. We have both made it this far, and it’s comforting to realize that we are growing every day.

Above all else, thank you for making me who I am. Thank you for facilitating my hopeless romanticism (misguided as it may be at times), my passion for helping others, my strong sense of intuition. Thank you for being the little voice inside that has guided me since day one, for beating so strongly no matter what. Thanks for falling so that I know how it feels to soar. It is because of you that I am the person I have grown to love. From now on, I will work harder to amplify your voice, to allow you to sing.

With love,

Your Person