Dear Miss Lily,

First and foremost, let me tell you that this is a leap of faith …

It is also a labour of love.

I am so proud of you, and incredibly proud to be your Aunty and Godmother.  I want to be a positive influence in your life, and help you in any way I can to live the very best life you can imagine.

When you turned 13 I had an idea.  To write to you about all of the most important things I’ve learned (and am still learning) along my journey that I felt would be (might be) good/helpful/interesting/empowering for you to know.  I see in you such an amazing person with a whole life and world of opportunity opening up in front of you, and I wanted to provide some insight, inspiration, and support to help you along your way.

It was originally just a small idea, but as I thought more about it, it grew.  A basic list of the most important things I could think of grew into a series of stories/lessons that I thought would be powerful to share with you.  A letter no longer seemed appropriate for so much sharing, so I thought about a series of letters, and then perhaps the series of letters could be turned into a personal book, but oh the time it would take to get it to a finished product and would you ever get to enjoy it, and then *light bulb* …  a blog!

Once I landed on the blog it all rolled pretty quickly (well, in my mind that is) – I could write it over the course of the year, and you would have it as it was being written, and afterwards for as long as you needed. No matter where you were in the world, no matter what time of day or night.  You could take or leave any lessons, or part-thereof, and you could revisit them anytime you like.  After-all, this is a gift for you, especially for you.

But.  [Big but]  Like with most of my ‘inspired ideas’, it just stayed up in my busy brain, an ever-present project that I would think about in quiet moments.  I spent many a plane ride, afternoon coffee, drive in the car, or night-time reading session thinking about what I would have to say that would be of most importance to my very important niece at an important time of her life.  Believe it or not, I have come up with 11 lessons before even typing a word – so I’m definitely off to a good start, but boy do I have some work to do.

I made the resolution this year to take these important projects out of my head (and heart) and take them into reality, and to not be afraid to put myself out there.  To be brave.  Maybe by doing so I might just inspire you to do something you really want to do, too. And that’s a lesson in itself.

So my darling niece, your birthday gift I came up with when you turned 13 is finally in the making as you turn 17 in the year we will both kick Life’s butt – 2017.  17 lessons with love is born and it’s all because of you.

Love always,

Aunty xo