To 23-year-old Ivy, Hello my love! I am so so so proud of you! Look where you are now! I told you, didn’t I? Just like momma says, “I told you so!” (oh c’mon let me have it just this once!). It is so good to see you smile and laugh and become…
Category: Letters to young conservationists
Letter to 23-year-old Abby
Dear 23-year- old Abby, I know that you are going through a particularly tough time right now. This is not how you thought being in “the real world” as an adult would go. You thought that once you were done with college, everything would fall into place but instead, everything fell apart. I…
Letter to 21-year-old ‘Kate on Conservation’
To 21-year-old ‘Kate on Conservation’. A decade has past and I look back on you with a little bit of envy, and a huge amount of love and respect. It would be foolish to think that you don’t already know that you’re laying the foundation for the life you will find yourself leading…
Letter to 20-year-old Praneetha
Dear 20-year-old Prani, This was probably the hardest thing I’ve had to do – coming back and revisiting everything you discovered that broke your heart and dampened your spirit for people. As much as the last 5 years have been heartbreak after heartbreak from family, love, friends, they have also been one hell…
Letter to 20-year-old Aashra
Dear 20-year-old Aashra, Right now, you feel alone, confused and lost. You’re calling friends and family that are hundreds of kilometres from where you are, trying to navigate through the situation you’ve found yourself in. Beads of sweat and tears roll down your skin as you huddle in a claustrophobic room with no…
Letter to 19-year-old Isobel
Dear 19-year-old Isobel, You are currently in Fiji having the time of your life volunteering, meeting new people, making special connections, and learning lessons that you won’t ever obtain from a textbook. What fun! This is a special time for you, because you have ventured out of your comfort zone, you are experiencing…
Letter to 18-year-old Miranda
Dear 18-year-old Miranda, I bet you’re surprised to be getting a letter like this, aren’t you? You were convinced you would never make it this far, that you would never be okay. You certainly never imagined your words or story being published in a book! One about conservation, at that? Today – at…
Letter to 18-year-old Kaija
Dear 18-year-old Kaija, First of all, I know there is a whole thing around time travel and giving your past-self spoilers, but I absolutely think this letter is a loophole. I’m writing to you because although it won’t change anything for you immediately (hence the loophole), it will later become a huge boost…
Letter to 18-year-old Ivy
To 18-year-old Ivy, Hi babe. It’s me from the future. Crazy, am I right?? Let me first start by telling you how brave you have been all your life. You have been doing so well. I have always been in such awe of you, handling tough challenges all by yourself from such a…
Letter to 17-year-old Stephen
Dear 17-year-old Stephen, I share your grief about what is going on with the Dunes of El Socorro. That coastal erosion is happening due to climate change, rock extraction, tourism, and coastal development. To a young marine conservationist, I could only imagine what you are feeling. You have historical and ecological ties to…
Letter to 17-year-old Lea
Dear 17-year-old Lea, I know that you are currently in the middle of a meltdown, and rest assured that even from the view over here (in the future!) I can tell you that it is absolutely valid. You really did try. You worked so hard and it is ok to be disheartened. You…
Letter to 17-year-old Gargi
Dear 17-year-old Gargi, I know you are hurt and disappointed that you did not get admitted to a Veterinary School. Your long dream of becoming a Vet was shattered the day you walked out of the University of your choice. Your father, equally disappointed consoled you by saying how other opportunities are waiting…
Letter to 16-year-old Isobel
Dear 16-year-old Isobel, I hope you are well and reading this letter somewhere outside in the sunshine with a freshly brewed hot cup of peppermint tea and maybe even a cheeky scotch finger, your favourite! I am writing to you from the future as you might have already suspected. A bit freaky hey!…
Letter to 15-year-old Stella
Dear 15-year-old Stella, You are a passionate teenager, introverted and shy, who feels worthless and stupid. Things at school are difficult, pretty girls bully you, you have very few friends, and eat your lunch alone every day locked up in a toilet. Yet you are a hard worker and study hard, partly to…
Letter to 15-year-old Michael
Dear little 15-year-old Michael, I thought I’d reach across the years to you to offer a few gentle words of advice. My deep apologies that I’ve been so silent for all these years – I guess I got carried away with my own world of projects and explorations. It’s a really, really big…
Letter to 15- year-old Maria
To 15- year-old Maria, 6 years wiser now, I have learned so much growing up and there’s a lot I would do differently if I could go back. Remember: the path you have chosen is not an easy one, but the best things in life seldom come easy. Being a girl living in…
Letter to 15-Year-old Leyna
Dear 15-year-old Leyna, The numbers that break your heart never end. I know that all the statistics on declining species may be overwhelming. But that does not mean that you are the only one who reads these numbers, listens, cares, and tries to act. I promise you that there are many kids, teenagers,…
Letter to 15-Year-old Daisy
To 15-year-old Daisy, School is hell for you right now. Every day you have to get up and face people who are so different to you and shout you down. You feel trapped and stuck. You are surrounded by individuals and groups who pick on you and your values because actually, they are…
Letter to 14-year-old Praneetha
To 14–year-old Praneetha, I see you opening up. You’re going from an utterly introverted child to making friends everywhere you go. You are trying to fit in, learning how to live your school life to the best, and being inclusive. But, there’s also something else you should know. I know you value honesty…
Letter to 14-year-old-Kat
Dear 14- year old Kat, What a wonderful time in your life, coming into an age of discovering who you are and what you want to be doing in life, forming friendships, and learning about the world surrounding you. It’s a magical time of abundance and new ventures. Each day is spent outdoors,…
Letter to 13-year-old Astrid
Dear 13-year-old Astrid, I am currently writing this letter to you from London, where you have lived for the past couple of months. Over the past five days, you have been self-isolating in your room due to testing positive for the COVID-19 virus, which has spread rapidly worldwide, becoming a global pandemic. This…
Letter to 10-year-old Gemma
Dear 10-year-old Gemma, I want to start off this short story by saying no matter how hard you try, I think your life will always feel like it is going against the grain compared to everyone else’s. No matter how much you change your views, looks, friends, and passions, there will always be…
Letter to 11- year- old Laura
To fifth-grade, 11-year-old Laura, Yes, I’m talking to you, the sweet girl who has her nose buried in books about coral reefs, who cries when her grandpa ate chicken hearts (those poor chickens!) and who recently did a school project on the Great Barrier Reef. I remember when you shuffled into the class…
Letter to 8-year-old Praneetha
To 8-year-old Chinnu, You are the smartest, most sensitive little girl I have ever come across! It makes sense, too: born to two genius minds and compassionate hearts, you have been treated like a princess and lacked for nothing. It looked perfect; a doting father, an understanding mother, a little brother on the…
Letter to 8-year-old Patty
Dear 8-year-old Patty, Wow! Looking back at you at just eight years old and filled with such optimism, enthusiasm, and zest for conservation gives me strength and hope. But, before I continue, let me encourage you never to let go of that passion! It will serve you well in the future. Throughout your…
Letter to 5-year-old Jessie
Dear five-year-old Jessie, I know you hate being five. I know you sat mum down on the couch in the front living room to tell her that you’re done with this age and are more than ready to be six. But little do you know; I think of you often. It just so…
Letters to young conservationists- a new blog series
What started as our third book concept for Lonely Conservationists, didn’t quite make it into a handheld cover of pages laden with words and illustrations. You see, just like the rollercoasters of navigating the conservation world, life often puts a spanner in the works and allows us the opportunity to practice being flexible…