WE’RE HERE

Dear 1-Year-Ago-Kelli,

I see you. I love you. You are so, so close.

You just saw Portrait of a Lady on Fire last week and right now you are IN it. You can’t stop listening to Vivaldi’s Summer and your blood is pumping like the whoosh of a seashell and your heart is blooming bigger and bigger and every day it’s begging you to find the key.

You’re hopeful and scared and anxious and confused. You don’t know if you’ll ever find the courage or words to change your life. You’re not entirely sure if your life *is* even changeable. The world will be thrown into a global pandemic in the coming weeks, and all of your previous anxieties will be swept up in the rising storm. It’s all coming. Hold on tight.

2020 will be brutal, but in that epic battle you will find yourself. Things will get quiet... very, very quiet. And soon you will hear a new voice that cuts through the dark like a lionhearted lullabye — powerful and peaceful and so very clear — and the tears will slip down your cheeks as you slowly recognize it as your own.

Today I received this care package from myself. I like to think you sent it to me. I wish so badly I could send this photo to you. Maybe, on some level, I did.

I see you. I love you. We’re here.