Dear younger self

Amanda through the ages (from L): about 2 years old. About 21 years old. Heading into her 60s.

To mark International Women’s Day on Tuesday, some women are writing letters to their younger selves with advice or wisdom from their older point of view. I took up the challenge.

It was an interesting exercise to write such a letter to my younger self — thinking back to what that young woman thought success could look like (the corporate ladder) and how my unfolding life has shown me what it actually has come to mean for me (my own character).

In the ‘writing as tool for transformation’ courses I have developed with my creative collaborator, Deborah Schnitzer, we include several writing exercises that invite the participants to write the same story from different points of view. It’s a powerful means to open up our understanding of our own experiences.

I encourage you to write a letter to younger self. You might be surprised to read what you’ve learned in the intervening years. 

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International Women's Day: March 8, 2022

Dear Younger Amanda — 

You will be loved by many for who you are. You do not need to be anyone different than who you already are at your young age: smart, joyful, kind, generous. As you grow up and grow older, have the courage to step into the light of your own self, your own character.

Education is important and you will love just about every minute of the studies you undertake, but you will really shine when you work with others on issues that matter to you, including women’s rights and reproductive justice. You will surprise yourself at the leadership roles you step into and succeed in. That success will come from the skills you already have as a young woman, which you will refine throughout your life: critical thinking, clear communication, and commitment to collaboration. 

Let go of your young-girl aspirations of climbing the corporate ladder and being a swank CEO in a corner office. Nothing wrong with those, of course, but you will eventually find your way to the front of the classroom — the natural place for your love of learning and your skilled leadership that combine into productive work as an educator. You will discover that you love it and you will take it with you into retirement — yes, you will eventually leave full-time work and then you will discover the joy of taking your teaching skills into the community. 

All this very good life lies ahead of you, dear Younger Amanda. Trust yourself. Stay true to yourself. Work with others. And you will find yourself living a quite ordinary life that brings extraordinary rewards to you. 

It’s all within you today…for the tomorrows that lie ahead of you. 

Go get it, girl! 

With love,

Older Amanda 

#MFGP

NOTE: Many thanks to my cousin Ian Kellas, who created the composite photo of me as a baby and a young woman, with the typewriter incorporated. Many thanks to Deborah Schnitzer for the current portrait of me. 

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Land acknowledgement: I respectfully recognize that I live on the original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.