My Dearest Wee Bee, Zoe,

So, my darling girl, you are now officially three.

And what a delight and joy you are to all of us around you, and, even more importantly, to your own dear self.

This year, my wish for you is simple.  I want you to remember this always, Zoe: you’ve got the magic in you.

It doesn’t come from expensive lotions or potions or juice cleanses or fancy televisions or gorgeous shoes (*and you know how much I adore a gorgeous pair of sparkly shoes).  It doesn’t come from straight As or getting the starring role in the school play or winning lots of scholarships or having the most friends on Facebook or followers on Instagram and/ or Pinterest (or whatever has replaced Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest by the time you’re old enough to use them- which, of course, will be when you’re my age!).  It doesn’t come from owning an enormous home or traveling the globe while flying first class or dining out at hip restaurants.  It doesn’t even come from having a loving family and supportive friends who adore you and are always there for you.

The magic, sweet child of mine, is in you.

It’s been in you all along.  Not because you’re joy-full, courageous, hilariously funny, incredibly smart, artistic, and, in my humble and completely biased opinion, the most beautiful inside-and-out Zoe Bee around (although it is very much true that you are all these things, and so very much more).  It’s been in you, and continues to be in you, simply because you are you.

So climb the highest mountains, or take on the starring role in a Broadway musical, or paint seventeen masterpieces, or complete five graduate degrees if you want to (or don’t, because after all, it’s your life and you get to choose what you would and would not like to do), all the while knowing that, regardless of what you accomplish, how much you acquire, and how many lives you touch, you’ve got the magic, deep inside your heart.  You have all that you might ever need or ever want right inside of you.

We often forget, Zoe Bee, that we all have all that we could ever want or need or desire deep inside of our own selves.  I don’t know why this happens: maybe it gets lost in the hustle and bustle of trying to live a life we think we are supposed to live.  All I know is that once we still all the “should haves” and “must haves” and “why can’t I haves” that go spinning through our minds, we can feel the truth, beating in our hearts: we are enough.  I am enough.  You are enough.

And this truth, my love, is pure and powerful magic.

(And just in case you ever need a gentle reminder of how much magic you hold, you can wave your Zoe Bee birthday wand around and around, as you twirl in your dancing shoes.)

I love you more than anything else in the whole, wide world. Happy, Happy Day to the sweetest wee bee who has helped me be still and uncover my own magic, again.