To my student

Dear Student,

I think you are an artist as a young woman. Not "the," but "an." I think that you don't know this yet, and that your friends and your environment haven't demonstrated to you that your artist's mindset is okay. It is okay. It is troublesome, meddlesome, frustrating, pleading, prodding, pushing, and maddening. But it is part of you, and you will have to learn to embrace it.

I think that you will have to struggle for meaning. The quest of religion is to imbue life with meaning, to make it something other than void. Meanings sometimes show themselves in either bold or the most subtle of ways. Other times, we have to create meaning for ourselves. It is too easy to give in, and give up, and to wallow in the utter purposeless-ness of it all. Do not go the easy road. The easy road will make you jaded, cranky, and a curmudgeon before you're middle-aged. The easy road does not make life beautiful.

You are living through a difficult period in your life, to be sure. However, I believe you know that at some point, YOU will have to make the decision to continue in this manner, or to change your conceptual framework. You will, at some point, realize that you need to choose laughter, optimism, catharsis, and beauty. No one can do this for you. No amount of Band-Aid compliments and pats on the back will settle you in a permanent state of loving yourself. Happiness and self-love will only be true, genuine, and lasting when they come from within you. You have to find the cup the overfloweth...

In conclusion, I love you. The meaning I am bestowing upon my life, my difficult years, and my mistakes is that I experienced all of it so that I could help you. Thank you.