hello, little one.

I’ve been busy watching you be so busy and oh so excited about everything around you. at eleven months old you’ve taken your first international trip. you spent a week or so with family in Canada swimming, boating, and generally lighting up the very room for anyone around you.

i thought i might take some time and talk to you about differences, seeing as youve been in so many different places with so many different people this past month.

we are people. people are people, and they have their own people the same way you have your own people. they have mamas and dads, and grandmas and grandpaps and puppies and homes and teddy bears too. people dont always look the same, or sound the same, or smell the same. they eat different foods, use different things, live in different places, and have different likes, dislikes, and beliefs. these differences dont make us different from one another, they make our people our people.

the only time anyone is different is if we make them different. it isnt food, or religion, or skin color, or where someones from that makes them who they are – its love. love is what makes people our people. love is what makes all those different things not so different. love is being open, and willing to connect and share.

if we connect with people that dont look like us, theyre not so different.

if we try the food were not so used to eating, its not so different.

if we listen to music and voices were not used to hearing, theyre not so different.

if we learn about beliefs were not used to following, theyre not so different.

if we touch people were not used to reaching out for, theyre not so different.

 

if we refuse to learn about what is different, it always will be different. it will be us versus them instead of us being people. if we refuse to accept and love, we can fall into hate and prejudice. if hate and prejudice are allowed to exist, people become less than people, and people suffer.

i ask you, my little one, always be willing to learn. if youre willing to learn, youre able to turn differences into experiences and question marks into relationships. venture into the world with your smile and personality, and find that the world is an amazing place full of people willing to teach you and learn from you.

there are always going to be those people unwilling to learn, unwilling to see people as people and instead see the world as us versus them. Recognize those people as they are- unwilling to learn and closed off.

Our own light will never shine brighter by extinguishing another’s. but with enough lights shining together, you can illuminate even the darkest of nights. our strength as people is in coming together, and loving one another.