Just Be Yourself
The Day an Eleven-Year-Old Reminded Me Who I Am I had already made up my mind. For her birthday, I was going to wear a vibrant parrot-green Kanchipuram silk saree. It was festive, elegant, and somehow felt like the obvious choice for an occasion as special as her eleventh birthday. The saree was in my hands when I casually asked her, "How should I dress for your birthday?" I expected a simple answer. Instead, she gave me a vision. She looked at me with complete certainty and said, " I've already given an impression of you to my friends. I want you to be the bossy you... all Guccied and Pradaed up... all fancy. It should be like you've been in that dress all day and yet your elegant self. As if you're just this way daily. It should be effortless, yet well put together. So... just be yourself." I couldn't help but smile. Not because she mentioned Gucci and Prada. Not because an eleven-year-old somehow described "quiet luxury" bett...
