Nearly six years ago, I found myself as a lost 13-year-old struggling with the overwhelming thoughts and intangible awareness of the world around me. I struggled with the thoughts in my head and the perceptions of my eyes because they seemed so anomalous and forlorn within the context of the young teenage community around me at this point in my life.

As I struggled with these perceptions and awareness’s day-in and day-out, I pushed myself to understand other disguised wavelengths of the universe- and as I did so, I became hyper-aware of the life around me and the life within me. In the peak of this hyper-aware state I struggled within 2013, I wrote myself a letter.

As I continue to struggle with the many facets of life and awareness, I find myself in need of a constant reminder of the basis of these ideologies - that of which my 13-year-old mind understood quite dryly yet clearly. The letter goes as follows:

“Hi Self. Right now I am in the woods of the spectacular Camp Stella Maris, surrounded by essentially myself, but also the nature around me is being surrounded by themselves too. This comes to my starting point, and one of the most self-comforting things I have been able to take away from the past 2 weeks being an EF LIT 2013- and this is the fact that we are all made from the same stuff, the same stars.

Therefore, we and everything else on this beautiful Earth are all each other, and we are all connected in a very strong way- in a scientific sense and a spiritual sense. Think of the most common elements found on Earth- carbon, oxygen, and water…etc. Now think of all of the most common elements found in yourself… carbon, oxygen, water, etc… Although we may think that this as a mere fact, it is not just a coincidence- actually, it’s not a coincidence at all.

We are one with each other, the Earth, the stars and the entire universe. But anyways, what I really hope for you to remember is that you are small, in the sense that you are a human living on a planet with billions of other humans and species, who then, in turn, all live in a never-ending universe. But you are also so big in the sense that you are connected to everyone and everything on this Earth and even in space.

As I sit here in the woods with the water that could have very likely been a part of me once, I do recognize that I am in such an awesome place with my head and controlling my mind, which I haven’t felt like since Mom and Dad divorced- or maybe even ever. But as I am in this amazing mindset, I write to you to remind you that you are in control of your mind. Don’t let it take over- and although you may think life is merely school, sleep, and repeat, I really want you to stop right now and calm down- try to remember this feeling you have- that life is amazing and all of the realizations you have made here.

Stop and look at the stars at least twice a week- I do not care how late you’re up, just do it! Stop thinking about time because inevitably, it doesn’t matter. Recognize your awareness as a gift, not a flaw and stop getting stuck in the moment- simply live it and move on. Think about life- DO IT! It’s not scary now that I’ve tried it for the past couple of weeks.

And just remember to think about all of the forces that play into your future and accept the fact that it is inevitable and stop worrying about it so much- the way the clouds move today could change your entire future and there is nothing you can do about it, so stop worrying! Say I love you to everyone you love. Give yourself a hug and love the incredibly worthy and inevitable life you live. Think about all of the remarkable coincidences that had to happen in order for you to be on this Earth right now, and be grateful! In the end, “you have the entire universe; there’s a 100% guarantee that you’ll be okay.”

I find it useful to learn from the minds of the less jaded - and thus as this letter continually reminds me of the bare necessities of happiness and full cognizance and indebtedness, I hope it may display these provisions in the rawest form- my stream of consciousness- to you. If there be one thing you take away from it, however, please let it be the fact that I am you, you are me and we are each other and in the end, we really do have an entire universe, so no matter what happens, we will all be quite alright.