When I was just a few months pregnant with West, I wrote him a little letter. The first of many. I find most of my writing these days orients towards what I hope for him through the lens of what lights me up and our experiences as a family.
I wrote the letter during our community celebration in the fall. A celebration for banishing grumps, letting in light, and gratitude for nature. At the time I was a bit uncertain about what it would mean to be a mom, but as I let the light in, I thought, “if I give anything, I want to give him the mountains”. I also want to give him the freedom to explore the edges of all he wants to be. Where we live you can do that.
I also find that where we live I don’t feel the pressures of parenting in any expected ways. It’s liberating to parent by just being myself. I think I was drawing on a lot of that as I was trying to find my footing in a world about to change.
What I wrote was this.
Should you ever need to regain your sense of direction, Wild Child, do what I do and locate the Mother Rock. Locate Whetstone. Locate Gothic and walk towards the mountains. That direction is always right or at least it has been for me.
Nothing is expected of you in this valley. Therefore, you should pursue the unexpected, the intriguing, the unknown. Question. Be curious. It is safe here to do that. Here you can find meaning in what you do, but I recommend spending most of your time doing what you love. I hope at least part of what you love is the soil at your feet, the trees that surround, the sound of birds when it is all you can hear. They will protect you. They have always protected me.
Explore this place with your dad. Explore new places with your dad. He knows a tale or two. He sees the world beyond the boundaries that limit most. Therefore, every adventure with him is almost always filled with surprises. Every adventure with him opens the world up. He opened my world up.
The places, the people you love, protect them as they protect you. Revel in them. Pursue wild over good, but pursue good too.
