She was trying on clothes,
Really enjoying the experience of shopping,
Quick to know what she liked & didn’t like,
Asking for different sizes,
Turning away items that she knew instantly wasn’t her.
At the counter the lady asked a question about her, but looked to me for the answer,
I turned to look to the one who had the answer.
She replied with confidence, with certainty and a big smile.
The lady stood still, slightly shocked, unsure how to respond,
Eyes darting between me & her, with eyebrows lifted.
A shopping spree with my then 13 year old girl.
It wasn’t the first time,
I’ve noticed it many times in different situations,
Not just with my girl, but also with other young girls.
Girls who have a confidence about them,
Who know what they like & what they don’t like,
Who can ask for what they want,
And who can say no to what they don’t.
Who can speak up to when something feels off.
A confidence, I myself have had to work towards,
A confidence that many wish to have.
When I see it in our younger girls, I smile,
And on the inside I’m shouting – You go girl, don’t stop.
Very aware of how some of the world is responding to them.
Paused reactions,
Raised eyebrows,
Side-eye (as the teens would say)
Silence, due to being unsure how to communicate with young confidence.
Or comments made that make it very clear how the young confidence makes one feel.
It’s the confidence I wish I had at that age,
Something I’m still untangling in different ways.
And, it’s the confidence I never want to see squashed in our young (girls & boys)
And it’s up to us as adults to stop and see what they have to teach us.
We learn from everyone we meet, young & old.
Confidence isn’t cocky,
Vibrancy isn’t who does she think she is,
Speaking with certainity doesn’t mean she’s too much,
What it is, is truth, beautiful natural truth of who they are and get to be.
A person who get’s to that space, has a heart like no other.
Who want’s to see the best, the beauty, the good in all.
I don’t understand why anyone would want to destroy that, when it’s something we all wish to have.
As a mum, as woman, I want to protect it,
Keeping my fingers & toes crossed, hoping it stays and the world doesn’t damper them,
Doing all I can to find the balance between nurturing, encouraging, giving space to it at the same time as parenting, guiding & having boundaries with it – it isn’t easy.
I see the world,
I hear the world,
But it’s only in my home that I can truly lay down my words, my actions, my view,
To help them see & trust themselves,
Hoping it echoes louder than the world,
Hoping they have less to untangle.
When our young are seen, nurtured & encouraged for who they naturally are as an individual,
Everything about them matures in the most beautiful way.
21
Apr