A Personal Manifesto [2015]

A personal manifesto. The miseducation, the declaration, the manifestation of me. A reminder to the eye that looks into the mirror somedays and forgets that she is one of heaven's most beautiful creations: You deserve to be here. And you deserve to take up space, and to live, and to laugh, and to love, and to create. And If Picasso could have made love to you, he would have kissed every inch of your body, and caressed every crevice of your soul until you were reminded that you are art; a masterpiece in its essence. Never forget that.

1. Do not forget to love yourself. More importantly, do not forget to love yourself first. Even when you gag up the blood from yesterday's wounds and spit out the bitter taste of tomorrow's mistakes you will still be stuck with the everlasting mnemonic of your own body. Learn to love it. No one deserves you more than you. 

2. Never trust a man that does not take the time to touch your heart before he touches your body. You are not written in braille, he does not have to feel you to read you, to know you. Remember: always indulge in words before play but if you just let words be foreplay, I promise he will fall in love. 

3. Red lipstick is not unholy. It does not make you a whore, it does not make you the dried up secretions from last nights love affairs, but the blood of the gazelles being savaged by lions, their fangs in too deep, mouths full of hunger, eyes full of fearlessness. You are the crimson of this life's most exotic rose. Grow freely, without reservation, without fear of being too rich of a color for their dimly lit eyes.

4. You mustn't let them tell you that your art is not worthy. Be the artist that you are. You are beautiful like flame lilies on a sunflower night. Do not let them take that from you. 

5. Find comfort in being alone. You may have to sometimes. 

6. Dont worry too much about chasing your dreams. Have fun, live a little. Eat ice cream for breakfast and pancakes for dinner and have the sunset for desert. Dance in the rain and kiss underneath the stars and pursue the rest of the worlds cliches that sound far too juvenile for you to fathom- they wont be juvenile for long. Time will catch up to you, and the biggest regret you'll have is wishing you could have those moments back. So live. As for your dreams- They'll end up chasing you. 

7. Try not to fall in love for as long as you can manage but please, I beg of you, don't  forget to either. 

8. Be the woman you promised yourself you would be when you were younger. Make the little girl inside of you proud. I remember you told her that her dreams were as tangible as she'd make them and if this life is not close enough to your touch for you to yank it by its neck and make it yours yet then I am not sure when it will be. 

9. Give your mother the world. You owe her that much. Look for her in everyone. 

10. Inspire. Be the guide to others that you needed when you were lost. Fight for them. Fight for the girls who do not know how to fight for themselves. Teach them that there is so much more to life than hating one another. Give them advice. Give them time. Give them you. Give them love. They'll come around. In due time, they'll come. 

Ps.. Do not forget that you are still young. You are still growing. You must remember that you have a full life left to live. Focus on all that you've done, not what you should have. You still have time. There are millions of poets and lovers and thinkers and artists and learners and creators and eccentrics in this world; but there is only one you. You mustn't forget.