Dear Declan: A love letter on your third birthday

On this third birthday, I invite you to be YOU!  My promise to you is to never allow that to happen, as long as I am responsible for the quality of your life and the shaping of your mind. My promise to you is to give you full permission to evolve into the greatest version of yourself that you were always meant to be. I don't want you to lose that and discover it as you go along, I want you to always viscerally know it. To know who you are, and most importantly: what you are. In a world where spirituality has become a mere strategy of patriarchal upbringing, I want you to know your Self. In a world that tells you there is no Self, there is only God (or nothing/coincidence/random/chance/chaos), I want you to know your divinity. In a world convinced it is right, I want you to grow up trusting the process and the magical discoveries found only in the unknown (and unknowable). In a world that will try to mold you and shape you into something you are not (for its own purposes), I want you to see right through the illusion and not mistake the carrot for the stick (and maybe even notice what's beyond the stick...). In a world where abomination is idolized and psychopathy normalized, I want you to pay...attention, differently.