What I Want You to Know About Being Alive

I am the godmother to an incredible human, Hermès. The task I received is to guide him through the dimension of Time.

This inspired me to write him a letter, one that gathers fresh insights from my own experience — reminders that sustained me in moments of confusion. Almost three years later, I rediscovered the letter, and it still feels alive, as if waiting patiently to be heard once more. Perhaps, dear reader, it has something to whisper to you too.

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Hermès. You have so much aliveness in you, so much to discover, to savour. So much delicious unknown to explore.

Time is one of those ungraspable mysteries that make life wonder-full. Time is also the dimension that I have been tasked to explore with you. I desire to share a taster of some of the gems that I have collected so far on my journey. They are invitations for you to play with. They helped me in times when my perspective was blurred — and maybe, they will speak to you, too.

Feeling lost is part of the process. In fact, everything is part of the process.

There will be moments when you will feel like everyone knows something you don't. And other times, you will feel like only you have peeked beyond the veil of reality and now know the secret/sacred revelations of life. Both are temporary illusions — as most things are. Knowing this can make it all feel lighter.

You will fall in and out of love with life, yourself and others. You will find everything pointless and dull and overwhelming at times. You will want to escape those feelings occasionally. Paradoxically, knowing unease is simultaneously what will enable you to experience beauty. Paradoxes hold the taste of deep truth. I wish you to savour the full range of aliveness, my dear Hermès. To delight in the contrasts, knowing that they enrich your range and add nuances to your palette. This is a lifelong practice — the art of being with what is. Cultivate it.

There will be times in which you will cry of beauty, Hermès. You will feel the explosive, ever-expanding brilliance that envelops everything. It will dissolve your doubts, limitations, fears. And a glorious insight will hit you — that you co-create this experience. Your presence, attention, your willingness to be here, now.

Trust. A verb and a noun — play with both. It is a process of removing layers more than adding shiny adornments to yourself.

You will develop rigid ideas of how you 'should' be. How you should act, look and sound like in order to be successful, accepted and ultimately, loved. You will become attached to these ideas of who you are — and maybe, of how others are. A substantial part of the journey is to realize that behind these ideas and stories, there lies something deeper. Explore what that is with curiosity, with tenderness. Try on different versions of yourself. There are infinite choices always, way beyond what you can see in this particular moment. Allow the possible flavours to reveal themselves. Let them surprise you. Let them change you. And know that they will change too — everything in life does.

There will be moments of paralysis, of despair, of hopelessness. And they will pass. Our minds sometimes forget this fact. We can get so overwhelmed by the intensity of our experiences that our perspective shrinks. It requires trust in something beyond ourselves, beyond the visible, to transcend those black holes. Maybe that 'something' is time.

The only way out is through. Transformation happens through acceptance.

Avoidance is a temptation that we frequently will want to dance with. That is ok. There is courage in choosing truth. It might burn. It will heal.

Nature is a fantastic teacher. Listen to its rhythm. Ask it about (in)significance, about effort, about flourishing. Let your value scale be recalibrated by sitting in a damp forest. Observe grass. Marvel at the symbiosis of species. When togetherness feels impossible, return to the trees. They have an intimate relationship with time, more developed than any word I could try to curate for you, my beloved Hermès.

You are as miraculous as everything that you see. There are no conditions to this. No requirements that need to be satisfied. This is a fact of life. You are endlessly worthy. And value can not be measured with any universal standard. Remember. Forget. Remember. Laugh about the forgetfulness/the process.

One day, you will write your own letter to future generations, Hermès. I am so excited to discover the unique perspective you will offer. I wish you to be present — that is the greatest gift of Time.