From The Daddy Diaries: A Letter From Me To You

If I could tell you anything, I suppose I would tell you that the sky is yours. If I could, I would tell you to look around and say, “This is all yours!” I would say this because here you are, swinging at the world for the very first time. There’s so much to see. There is so much to do. This is your life. It’s not your Father’s or your Mother’s. This has nothing to do with me or anyone else in the world. Not your aunts or uncles, not your cousins, or your brothers or sisters or friends and extended family. This is for you.

You are on the verge of so many new things—it’s like waiting in a long line at an amusement park for a ride that you’ve never been on before. And one by one, a person takes their turn before you; and one by one, you anticipate your turn in the seat.

You have these thoughts and ideas. Then again, we all have a version of the world. We all have our own vision, which no one else can see or feel nor even taste. This is unique to each of us. The way you see color or the way you hear sound is unique to you. Take me for example, whenever I smell a honeysuckle bush, I am immediately brought back to a memory of my youth in the springtime. I can even see the backyard where I saw my first honeysuckle bush. I can see the yellow and white flowers. I can see the lawn in the backyard where I sat down with two kids from my childhood’s past and I can see this as clear as ever. I can see the swimming pool that was in the corner of the backyard. I can remember the clear blue sky and the way the sun shone down from above.

Here’s the thing, I can describe this to be as picturesque as ever. And if you can, I would like you to picture this in your mind. Think about the description I gave you—what do you see? In your mind, I am sure you entered all of the details. I’ve given you the data, but yet, in your assumption, what kind of pool was this? Was it above ground? What color was the deck? Was it wooded? Was the wood painted red like the color of a picnic table? How did the deck configure around the pool—because I can explain what I saw and give all the details, but my vision is simply my vision; and because this is so, the transformable nature between us is different.

No matter what I’ve described to you or how I’ve mentioned the two kids from my childhood, my description will mean something different to anyone else in the world. For example, what do you assume the two boys looked like? Were they white? Were any of them dark-skinned or tan? What color hair did they have? Was their hair long or straight or did any of the two have short hair or a buzz-cut, or maybe one of them had curly hair. Which one?

Our minds will always create a picture that is unique to us, which is fine, as long as we understand that what we see is only what we see. Meanwhile, there is an entire world out there with more than 7 billion people in it. This means there are more than 7 billion versions of life and 7 billion versions of sight. This means stories can be lost in translation and sometimes, descriptions are lost in the transformable nature—but that’s okay. Do you know why? The reason is because this world belongs to you. You have the right to see what you see. You can pick and choose your beauty.
No one will ever see what you see or feel exactly what you feel. This means there is no reason to conform or adhere to anyone else’s touch. There is no reason to adapt to anyone’s way of life. But instead, be open and be advised that the world is filled with both interpretations and misinterpretations. There are misperceptions by the minute so please; keep in mind that the way they see things is only one in more than 7 billion ways of sight. Also, keep in mind, as much as we try to adapt to what we see, in essence, what we see is only a version.

I see your life is about to take place. And to you, your life has already begun. But to me, your life is still so new and so young. There is so much you will learn. There is so much that you will see. There will be experiences you have that no one else will ever have. And to this, I say “Enjoy!”

Enjoy every second of every minute of your perfect uniqueness. Enjoy every minute of every hour of your own personal beauty. There is no one else in this entire world who will have what you have. There is no one else in the more than 7 billion people who inhabit this place who could ever be who you are. No one will ever be able to match you. No one is going to have your perception; and I grant that this is not always the easiest concept to grasp—and I also grant that insecurity is part of nature; but the same as life is filled with perception, life is abound with misperceptions that crank out faster than we can count.

So—

Do not be afraid to make a wrong turn or color with your own colored pencils. Do not be afraid of the different shades of life. And do not be intimidated by someone else’s version of life—theirs is only one version out of billions, which means there is always a place for you somewhere. This means there are countless people and countless surroundings which equal countless opportunities for growth and happiness. The world is truly so diverse. This moment is right now more important than we could possibly realize.

Do not get lost in all the concepts of what other people assume or think. This makes it too easy to jump to conclusions and misread or misjudge circumstances. This causes unnecessary arguments and unnecessary rifts between people. This is what causes breakups and leads friends to become unfriendly. Be kind with your words but be mindful, even words said with the best of intentions can be misevaluated and thus, misinterpreted to be mean. This can happen, even if our words were said out of love (or adversely, said out of desperation for love’s return).

But beware of this:
Be mindful that to be unique is a gift; however, to disallow someone from this gift is the worst kind of theft. There is nothing more criminal than robbing someone of their true self. You would not want this done to you. In fact, no one would. So be mindful not to do this to someone else. Same as the world is yours, the world is theirs too. It’s all of ours and the way we see things has the right to be as unique as we choose.

Also, beware the deceptions of our perception. Not all of what we think, see or feel is accurate with fact or fiction—sometimes this is only a version. I have mine and you have yours.

It’s your turn at the launching pad and as one of your hosts down here on Project Earth, I would like to thank you for allowing me this moment of time. Thank you for being young and beautiful. Thank you for being you. And thank you for reflecting the world in such a way that as an old man, I see things more clearly now. I understand more because of you and the eyes of your youth.

I will love you always,

Dad