Letter to my daughter

To throw a predator off one's scent. One must lie low. Lie still. So as to not draw attention. Slow the heart beat and the breath nearly down to a halt.
Remember. Stay small, stay quiet, stay still. That's how one survives a predator that cannot be outrun.
Stay insignificant.
That's how we survive.
My mother says 
I've always been good at merging into the furniture at home.
Curled up in a ball, one would never notice I'm there until I responded to their call.
This quality of mine is a defense

mechanism she says. As a kid, I figured if I lay still and did nothing, no one would ever be angry with me.
That if I lay still and almost stopped breathing, I might even disappear one day.
If I made myself small enough then I'd cease to exist one day.

No it didn't work. Don't be like that. Okay?

Stand up and roar. Take back what's yours.Speak your mind. Be angry. Be sad. Celebrate when you're happy.Never apologize for feeling. Let the world call you crazy. Remember, they call you crazy when they are threatened by you. Crazy is a word they invented to control you.When they know you outshine them. Over shadow them. You are a Queen. Not a princess who needs to be protected. You are a Queen. Make your own rules.
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