Inhale and exhale.
When life gets hard,
When we get stressed,
It's easy to forget to breathe.
So let's do that again.
Inhale like you mean it.
Now exhale and let it go.
Do you have a harpy who has taken up permanent residence in your head?
If so,
Then this one's for you.
Welcome to a hit of hope,
And this is another one that is definitely salty.
It's easy to let that harpy in your head have its way,
Isn't it?
To let the negative tapes run endlessly.
And this harpy can have so much power over us.
It can break us if we let it.
But let's not let it break us,
Shall we?
What if we give that harpy a name?
How about Cruella?
You know,
As in Cruella DeVille from Disney's 101 Dalmatians?
For those of you who might be unfamiliar with this character,
She is someone who skins puppies to make herself a fur coat.
She loves to hurt the innocent,
The joyful.
And maybe this resembles the character who stands inside your head with a boombox,
Much like that famous scene with Lloyd Dobler in the movie Say Anything,
Where he stands outside the girl's window with a boombox on his shoulder,
Blasting Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes.
Except this Cruella in your head probably isn't playing you love songs.
She's blasting you with all of the things you've done wrong,
All of the ways you've fallen short,
All of the ways you've fucked up again.
Hi there,
Cruella.
We see you.
And you know what?
We no longer need your services.
We're ready to have a different character take up residence in our heads.
And we choose Charlotte from Charlotte's Web.
Charlotte,
You see,
Is used to hanging out in the dark corners.
She's used to watching kindly and with interest.
And she's ready to step up to remind those thrashing around in the shit.
She's ready to say,
You are good.
You are terrific.
You are radiant.
Charlotte is willing to work all night to compose beautiful messages,
Things to remind you and everyone around that you are worth saving.
You are worth cheering on.
God,
It is so easy to buy into Cruella's bullshit,
Isn't it?
But let's tell her to pack up her boombox and get out.
Listen to Charlotte.
You are terrific.
You are radiant.
You.
Yes,
You.
Please.
Listen to Charlotte.
You are radiant.
You are radiant.