an open letter to the voice in my head

dear negative nancy,

today i rode my bike downtown and back for no good reason other than it was wonderful.  it was warm and sunny and i flirted with every single person i saw.  it was so beautiful out that even the girls flirted back with me.  (i couldn't really blame them.  i was cute, with bright green armwarmers, dangly earrings, pigtails in my new red hair, and hi-top shoes.)

you always said that once i got a car, i'd never ride my bike again.  i've ridden it two days in a row now for an hour each day, and it is january, damnit!  consider yourself proven very wrong.

and if you were wrong about this, it means you could be wrong about other things.  like when you tell me i'm not pretty, or i'm not thin enough, or i'm not as smart as the boys, or i am not loved and never will be.  maybe you're wrong then too.  i know i listen to you a lot more at this time of year, but today reminded me to try harder not to.  and even when i can't help it and you're screaming at me so loudly i can't hear anything else, i will try to remember that spring will come one day and then i can ride my bike and listen to cloud cult and everything will be really, really good.

you probably feel really depressed these past two days, since i haven't been listening to you nearly as much as usual.  it's about time.  it was your turn to be sad.

sincerely ('cause there's no love here),

katie.