Open Letter to Young Girl Who's Journal I Found Strewn About the Park This Morning

Dear Young Person:

I'm sorry some mean bully-type person found your journal.

I'm sorry they chased you around with it and read it out loud.

I'm sorry you were humiliated, watching your innermost thoughts and drawings be ripped out and
thrown into the wind.

I'm sorry that you feel like your life is over and you can never go back to school.

I know it feels like nothing is secret or safe, but it will be again, someday.

I know it doesn't help now, but eventually everyone will forget that you like Kyle.

I know it hurts, but eventually you will not think of it again until one day when you are 30, and you find some little girl's journal in the park and you remember how it felt.

If it makes you feel better, in the 5th grade, the Morin twins (Megan and Becky) tricked me on the playground; one of them picked me up over their shoulder and the other pulled my skirt over my head.

It is important that you "chin up" about this and know that you are a strong person. You must be; only strong people keep journals. Weak people just remember fun times and reminisce about them well into their adulthood, living in the past.

Most of those bullies will peak in highschool, and you will peak much later, for much longer.

Big picture, here, young person. In the long run, this will be a blip that you remember with some hurt, but you cannot let it define you or change who you are right now. Not all people are as horrible as elementary school kids.

Whatever they did to you, they did because they wanted to feel better about themselves by pushing you down; only you can let them make you feel bad. Be stronger than they.

Start a new journal; eviscerate them. Maybe keep it at home. Only you need to know about it.

Do not seek public revenge; that only makes you stoop to their level. Also, the likelihood that you will get in trouble rather than them is good.


Today's song of the day is for you. Actually, you get a playlist, little girl. You go.

PS: The butterfly song at the end might make you cry. It's good for you :)

Ca-ve Thoughts

I have had the same song in my head for 3 days. It's called The Cave, by Mumford and Sons. I heard it on my way to work the other day, and sat in the car to let it finish (thank you, 89.3 the current, a part of Minnesota Public Radio :P). The mandolin is amazing. I gotta have more mandolin.

Two lines from this song keep ringing in my head. Just stuck in there, on repeat, and I love it. How can a song capture so many thoughts with one line? "Let me to the truth which will refresh my broken mind..." What a great line! Their show here in the cities is at least 2 weeks away, and it's been sold out forever. I'm sure I'm taking the song completely out of context, but I just keep hearing, "I need freedom now, and I need to know how, to live my life as it's meant to be..."

The other thought that comes to my mind is a memory from Ireland. In Doolin, we took a cave tour. The longest stalactite in the Northern Hemisphere (or was is stalagmite...which one hangs from the ceiling? Stalactite)...We had to walk down almost a mile of stairs, and then walk up them. When we came out, the sun burning our eyes, and our lungs burning from the climb, Carolyn said, "Oh, I still have ca-vay on my pants." So when I hear this song, I think of ca-vay, and the climb out of it. And I gotta have more mandolin!

Here are a couple of pics of us and the ca-vay day. We all still joke it was the worst 13.50 Euro we spent. But we helped the economy in Doolin. Yay. :)

So there it is. The mulling of my mind over the last few days. Spring has sprung, and perhaps we are all coming out of our caves. Maybe we'll come out walking on our hands, and see the world hanging upside down. Maybe we're all backwards :)


Today's song of the day should be no surprise. The video link is below, as well as others. I'm a fan. Way to go, Mumford :)

And, we now know (almost a year later) that the banjo/mandolin debate is finished, and tied. He plays the Banjolin. Surprised you didn't know that. :)