Reflections

Dear 11,
It's been wonderful having you as the age I can call my own for the past year. 11 is an in-between age. Still not quite a teen, but much older than a child. I  really got into teen fiction with you. Now that I'm 12, 11 seems so young. But I know that if you had asked me what I thought of the ages 11 and 12 a few months ago, I would have told you something rather different. I hope the next year will be filled with photography and writing and reading and other pleasurable activities. I don't want to get lost in boys and makeup and fashion. I want to stay true to myself, doing what  I enjoy. If I stray off this path, you have permission to torment me. Let the next year be filled with the sense of freedom and eternal happiness that comes with wind blowing through long hair, beautiful sunsets, refreshing lake water, inside jokes, and so much more of this beautiful world we live in. Don't let others take over your life and force you to change. Do what makes you happy. Learn lots. Read lots. Soak in all the information that life has to give you. Be that 12 year old you've always wanted to be, the one who climbs trees and takes photos and writes and reads all day long. Live in your own little world, but make sure that little world stays connected with Earth. Be a day dreamer, in other words, but always keep your feet firmly on the ground, unless you've gotta leap to reach your dreams, which I strongly encourage you to do. I'm a confusing one, aren't I? Well, just go for your dreams and be in your world and try not to think too much about what the rest of the world is doing (unless it's essential to avoid losing this wonderful life altogether). Run around and play games and be the epic being that you are.

Don't lose sight of who you used to be and who you can be.
Love ya,
Hanna

Well that wasn't really much of a letter to 11, but a wonderful letter it was anyways. Photos to come once I get home in a week or so.