I met a girl, one time, who instead of jumping at her shadow, politely shook its hand. She then shook mine, and introduced herself. This is Ariel.

I’d like to clarify by saying that yes, she does have legs. In fact, she’s spent quite a length of time walking in other peoples’ shoes. Her favorite cupcake flavor is whichever comes with pink frosting that day. And she can never buy just one.

She understands perspective, but does not live as a number. She said she’d buy a scale the day they found an accurate way to measure happiness. She’s classy. She’s kind. Even though she needs at least 3 minutes after waking up, before speaking to another human. I think it’s because she’s waiting for her dreams to finish up, before sipping on adventure with her coffee each morning.

She’s touched plenty of hot stoves, but the scars have become great conversation starters. Even though she’s often misunderstood, she’s un-phased by the people whose interpretations she can’t control. She’s grateful, actually. Because her now best friends, were once the strangers who stopped to ask and clarify. But of course, they fell in love with her authenticity. One time, she was in The Guinness Book of World Records for mending the largest amount of broken egos. Because she never misses an opportunity to give a compliment. She is the first to announce that girls compete, but women empower one another. And a candle loses none of its fire by lighting another.

She falls in love with the stories, people, and characters she reads about. But she might not know that her own story is even better. Her face is freckled by conversations with the sun– she prefers sharing her secrets with the moon. As for the stars- well, she inspires them to shine a little bit brighter. She’s a lot of magic for such a small space, considering the human frame doesn’t explain its contents too accurately. It doesn’t explain her memories, or the nostalgic scents that might rewind her sense of time. Or why she loves the sound of the morning tide. It doesn’t tell you about that one time she laughed so hard her sides cramped. Or how her entire room is still filled with stuffed animals. It mentions nothing about the treehouse she used to spend hours inside. Or her fear of thunderstorms. Her human frame doesn’t show the lyrics she relates to, the books she’s read, the second language she’s learned, the hobbies she’s mastered, the talents she’s acquired, the lives she’s touched, or the people she’s inspired. The human frame is incorrect criteria for judgement- a false reference. It says nothing of her substance, which is defined in the dictionary as, “the actual matter of a thing”. She belongs here because she’s more than a lovely human mold- she’s an unstoppable force with a magical mind. She’s not some body. She’s somebody.

The two most important days of your life, are the day you were born, and the day you find out why. The second of these, could be the reason I wrote a list of all the things Ariel is. But I can summarize her in just one word. You.

xoxo, The Mermaids

originally posted May 11, 2016