Would the girl/boy that you once were be proud of the girl/boy you are now?

In 2010 a 26 year old Elissa found a sealed manila envelope from her smaller self, Little Elissa.

From ages 9-12 this adorable hairy Jewish Sicilian wrote over 50 love notes to her adult self. On the cover she painted a bride, the classic kind that you draw using white-out, with the words, DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 24!, plastered all over. Inside she asked a sea of questions.

Are you happy? Have you gone to Africa? Are you a Missionary? What’s your husband’s name? Is he a doctor? Is life still this magical? Is the world full of love? Is Stephie still your best friend?

Her response: THIS IS AWWWWESOME! Then she did what any grown girl would do. She wrote her back. And then she wrote her again, and again, and again.

As a direct reflection of her questionable organizational skills this OPEN AT 50! YOU’RE FABULOUS envelope went missing. With her to-do list buried under a mountain of papers she put the project aside.

It wasn’t until she met Emi, the 7 year old kindness warrior, that she knew her time capsule letter project would soon be resurrected. Emi’s the type of kid that goes out of her way to fill buckets and it could be argued that one can actually see sunshine burst from her eyes when she giggles. Emi has a lot of young wisdom to share with the world. And even more to offer herself.

Elissa decided that she wanted to share one of her most celebrated adult experiences with Emi. Together these two ladies co-created their own Letter Time-Capsules, one for Big(ger) Elissa to re-discover at 45 and the other for Big Emi to open at 20.

And love letters they did write.

…………………….

Today this is the letter Elissa added.

                                                                                                                                                     April 20, 2014

Dear 45 year old Elissa,

I love you. Thank you for being brave. I love your dreams and I’m so excited to reflect on all of things you’ve accomplished in the past 15 years. Thank you for trying your best.

Wherever you are, please freeze, breathe, and listen. To the birds, your inner voice, your pain, to the neighbors having breakfast. Listen. Tell yourself you are extraordinary. And go.

Do you still drink coffee? I love coffee. The thought of coffee makes me excited. The smell is a whole other story. Despite years of various attempts of quitting, I always went back. Black, with soy milk or half/half, sometimes sugar, it don’t matter… I just love coffee. Well, I suppose it worth noting that I prefer shade grown, free-trade, organic, locally roasted coffee. I realize that this means I have an addiction and that I’m a snob. I’m curious to hear about your coffee habits at 45.

Today I want to remind you of three important things to know.

-It takes less than 1 second after a smile, forced or natural, to make your body feel lighter and happier.  

-It’s easy for people to fear their failures but when you spend time visualizing your successes they actually start to happen. Keep using your imagination to create your reality. It feels good and it’s fun.

-Life is fun. Seriously, don’t take it so seriously.

So much love.

Elissa Cirignotta

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Letter time-capsules are an opportunity to heal, laugh, grow, observe and to reflect. There is room for such great healing through the written word. Within each person lies a space of infinite wisdom. Celebrate your successes, mourn your losses, vent your anger and document your personal journey of evolution through a time-capsule. At age 7, 10, 15, 26, 30, 45, 63, 75, and 97.

Do it! With your kids, students, partner, or your own beautiful self!

Life on Belmont with Greg, Elissa, and Kitten.

I love love. Love inspires me, satiates, and fuels me. The ways in which we as humans are able to experience and feel love is in and of itself a reason to be thankful. Right now I'm at the part of the journey where I get to learn about love with someone I call love. (I also now call him my emergency contact.)

What fun it is, to so intimately share life with another person. Greg is my favorite person. I love his soul. I love his heart. I am completely head over heels for this redbearded Iowa boy. Now, don't get any crazy ideas that we are living this sappy fairy tale love story, because that simply doesn't exist, however what does and can exist is a life of love. And that dear reader, is the purpose of my journey.

On March 29th, Greg and I moved into a little green 1920s bungalow Portland home with 1 closet, a different color paint in every room, a queen size bed (workstation high) that takes up 5/7ths of our bedroom and yellow and red tulips lining the picket fence. It's fabulous! And it's home.

In anticipation of the move, I cried for about 3 days straight. Not out of sadness or out of fear, but mostly as a result of dealing with the emotions that come with change. The ever present constant that we can always count on; change will always change. (That and out of frustration that I had to pack boxes. I refused to fill boxes until the day before the move.)

Jesse and I lived together for 2 years and 8 beautiful months. We ate together, laughed together, listened to each others stories, shared struggles, and celebrations, and created a home of absolute love. He made me feel safe and I couldn't have asked for a better living arrangement. I feel extremely thankful and grateful that I had Jesse and that we were fortunate enough to build and share a home together. He has been present for almost every Portland chapter and has been a constant ear and support. The mourning of our home was inevitable. It was worthy of mourning.
After a few days of crying I decided to shift my focus and begin the practice of embracing the change while focusing on all of the positives. (Why do we sometimes wait so long to do that?)

I am so thankful. I'm thankful for all of the humans that I have crossed paths with. I'm thankful for those that have become my friends, my shamans, my teachers, my students, my family. I'm so thankful for those I've shared homes with and those that continue to be shining bright lights in my life. We are all here to help each other live life to the very fullest.

I'm so thankful for this new chapter to the journey. Bring it on Belmont!

Plus, Jesse still visits and brings me flowers. What more could a girl want?