My little sis is graduating.

I’ve always looked up to my little sister. She may be 3 years younger, but she’s always been more mentally mature than myself. I seem to regress to age 12 whenever she’s around. But in a really good, playful way. I don’t feel the pressures of adulthood burdening on my soul when I’m with her. That’s probably why I’ve gotten in the habit of calling her every day. We don’t even discuss pertinent topics. We kind of just listen to each other be there on the other side of the line and go about our daily duties.

However, I do feel a strong urge to protect her as she graduates from college and enters the REAL world. I have been scaring the crap out of her about this transition for a good while now and I’ve made sure she soaks in every moment of her senior year. The thing is- becoming a grown up isn’t nearly as bad as I’ve made it out to be. It’s just that your college years can never be replicated and you don’t understand that until it’s all over.

So I want to reassure her of the positive things she can look forward to after she shakes President Barker’s hand and has that well-earned diploma in her hands:

1. Having a seemingly monotonous daily routine is actually quite liberating. When you leave your job, you don’t have tests and homework that take over your afternoons. You have YOU time.
2. Choosing what you do with your free time; this is when you kind of start to discover who you are. You are what you do after all. Whether that be spending the evenings on the couch watching reality TV, sitting outside communing with nature, exercising, or reading a book; the fact is that it is your choice. If you don’t like it, be the change you wish to see.
3. Financial independence. Paying for everything feels gooooood. Financial stress teaches you a lot about yourself. Your possessions take on meaning.
4. All of these factors create one thing: Freedom. It was just a word to me before. Now it’s a state of mind.

Victoria- you are gorgeous. It’s undeniable. But you don’t rely on your beauty to bring you bliss. You radiate happiness from the inside. I cannot wait to see how you develop as you discover who’s inside you when you have freedom to do so. You are going to spread a lot of positive energy in your life.

“Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice.”
Thich Nhat Hanh