I like you. I like everything about you. I like your smile. Your teeth, no matter how crooked. Your physical shape, no matter which shape that is. I don’t care about the size of your butt.

I like your freckles, your moles, your warts, your imperfections, your scars, your thoughts.

I like your laugh, even if you think it sounds weird. I like it.

I like the way your eyes kind of get all squinty when you smile.

I like all of you. I like your face. I like the way you look. Eighty percent of 17-year-old girls are unhappy with their body. Eighty percent of adolescent boys feel deep shame about their bodies. Social media is killing our children’s body image. Our kids continually compare themselves to impossible standards. And so, probably, do you.

But never mind all that. I like you.

I like it when you do nice things. I like the way it makes you feel inside. I like how you are instantly given a warm-squishy feeling.

I like how being nice to people sort of gives you the sensation that you’ve discovered the meaning of life itself. Which, you kind of have.

In fact, THAT’S the best feeling in the world. Giving stuff to people.

Giving affection. Giving time. Giving food. Giving money. Giving away your art, for free. Not to be famous. Not to be rich. Not to have any recognition at all. Not for any ego boost or validation. But just because you enjoy helping someone. Not helping out of pity, but because you truly like that someone.

Which leads me to my next question:

Who do you like? Which people, I mean? Do you like everyone? Or are you choosy about it?

Do you like only those who like you back? Do you like only pretty people, who dress the right way, talk the right way, act the right way, have the right complexion, or bathe regularly?

Or do you like the people who smell bad because they sleep outside, under a highway bridge, or on a park bench?

Do you like people who have bad manners? Do you like people who cuss? Who have tattoos? People who take drugs? People who do bad things?

Do you like people who have a different religion than you do? Do you like people who disagree with almost everything you believe? More importantly, does your God like them? Do your friends like them?

Speaking of friends. Do you like that one person you know who has no friends at all? That kid sitting alone in the school cafeteria. Do you like him or her?

Do you ever actively seek that kid out and tell them how much you like them? Do you ever tell that person how incredibly special they are? Because they are, you know. Just like all 8.3 billion of us.

In any case, I like you. I don’t just love you, I actually LIKE you. You need to know that. I like being around you. I like your appearance. I like your soul. I think you’re beautiful. And I promise, I swear with all my heart, I will start showing you how much you mean to me.

Sincerely,

—Yourself