The Wild and the Wise

Written October 2025- Sweet 16 Fist Heart Break Time.

The Wild and the Wise

Our energies are opposite, and we learn to dance with that difference. You are my daughter and I am your mother. You've just turned sixteen, and I am a solid forty-five.

You are beauty, shiny, strength, and majesty. My beauty is fading, but my character is deepening, my roots growing strong beneath the surface.

You are exploring the outer world, while I am exploring the inner one. You rely on external validation. I have learned to own my self-worth.

You crave freedom, and I am programmed to keep you SAFE in your freedom.

Your world is becoming a big question mark, filled with fundamental philosophical questions. What is the point of everything? Why are we here? Why am I here? Why?

Life has not given me answers to the questions that once were mine too. But life has taught me to keep searching, to keep questioning within.

Life has taught me that the world constantly pollutes our inner world, to the point where sometimes the air is so thick, so dark that we can't see, the air is so polluted that we can't breathe.

But if I keep clearing that space inside me, life is here, to be lived and enjoyed in the most minuscule ways. Not in the big dreams, not in the big car or expensive outfits, but here, in the now, in the beauty of this flower.

My darling, my sweety pie, my angel, mon ange, ma puce, ma fille adorée,

Life has taught me that you have it all within. Within your heart is where everything starts.

Take the time to clear all the outside distractions and listen to your heart and true desire. Dance and move and breathe. Draw and paint and create. Bake and cook and share.

USE NOURISHING and CREATING as your way to live and be fed.

Illustration: @Anneamanda

This illustration touches me deeply. When I see my daughter wearing a French plait, there’s a brief, almost secret moment where I recognise myself. And then I realise, it’s not me. It’s her. And yet, it’s me in her.