Start your Thursday work morning by reading Solange Knowles’ letter to her younger self. You might just find yourself recalling your own teenage experiences and how they were happy, exciting, and terrifying all at the same time.
Published in Teen Vogue, Solange reveals the different stages of her awkward years including her “dance-is-life (aka ‘the leotard is my second skin’) phase” to the “football-player’s-girlfriend-who-wears-braided-blonde-highlights-and-swears-by-the-capri-pants phase.” Glad to know even the highest of celebrities were once subject to the embarrassing choice of youth.
Of course, no Knowles chronicle is complete without talking about their mom Tina. Solange notes how her mom was always an example of strength and selflessness. She recounts the days her mom would manage to take the kids to school and run her salon. “You realize watching a woman balance being a supportive mother, building a successful business from the ground up that was started in her garage, and giving back to the community will make you feel invincible and like the word ‘no’ is just an echo.”
Solange also reveals how she forged her strength from tough circumstances. “Seventeen will be the hardest year of your life. It will grow you up almost immediately. You will lose your best friend whom you love so much to gun violence in a single moment, and give birth to a new one within a year,” she wrote. Solange gave birth to her son in 2004, shortly getting married earlier that same year to Daniel Smith who was just 19 years old. It was a painful experience but Solange reveals how it taught her how. She also gives reaasurance to her younger self for such a decision, “You will be terrified, and it’s okay that you don’t know what the future holds.”
Above all, the singer-songwriter ends the letter powerfully by affirming herself as a strong, independent woman. “There will be times you are so sad you can’t lift your head. And there will be times you are so happy that the sensation of life knocks you down. But most importantly, there will be you. a whole, whole lot of it. And you will feel good about who she is and who she is still becoming.”
Photo by Ryan McGinley for Teen Vogue
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