Rocky Raccoon

A raccoon I photographed this afternoon lollygagging in a tree on a branch about 25 feet above the ground. He was clearly enjoying flirting with us from his safe perch. [click for larger version]

A Letter to my 20-year-old Self

Dear 20-year-old Suzanne:

No, you are not going to die any time soon.

If you were going to die any time soon, there wouldn’t be anything you could do about it but live each and every second being fully conscious, present, and attentive to that moment. But that's how you should always live. Remember: This is the lesson.

Stop being a drama queen. It’s not all about you.

Wear tighter jeans, lower cut tops, and bare more skin in general. It’s all nice and small and perky and firmly packed right now. This will not always be the case.

You are an artist.

Nice job on valuing your friendships. This is a skill that will save your life on more than one occasion.

Hard work and knowledge and education and experience and integrity are great, but these are not always the qualities that get people ahead in this world. Stop being surprised and learn to cultivate your connections and talk a big fat line of BS when necessary.

Everything's going to be okay.

All you need is love.

You’ll feel better when you’re 35.

Love,
Suzanne

PS You turn out to be a dog person! Who knew?

What WOULD you say to your 20-year-old self?

I came across a link on my cousin Amy's Facebook page to this NPR story. Cassie Boorn (pictured above), a 22-year-old blogger, having found herself in need of advice, decided to pose the question, "What would you say to your 20-year-old self?" to bloggers on the internet in general.

Can you even imagine how much I love this concept?

Read the responses Cassie received right here. There's also a link on the page for you to submit to your own letter. I can't think of a single blogger I read whose letter I wouldn't find absolutely fascinating. You should totally do it. (And yes, my own letter is comin' right up.)