I keep going back to the same little line in The Magician’s Nephew, the first book in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. At creation, we read of a special gift given to the animals in Narnia. “’Creatures, I give you yourselves‘, said the strong, happy voice of Aslan.”
I give you yourselves.
There’s something about God giving the gift of selfhood, the gift of being 100% yourself. The creatures now have an authentic voice. The creatures in Narnia are free and more themselves than they have ever been.
Meanwhile, I’m listening to Donald Miller talk about how much he enjoys being himself and how he’s learned to like himself. And I thought about the number of people I know who love being themselves. I thought of how these friends call forth the real me, too. Then I remembered a quote I underlined about a character named Clare in Marisa de los Santos book Love Walked In. She describes the self-possession and confidence of this young girl like this: Clare belonged to herself. Clare liked being Clare.
This got me thinking: How do we help people learn to like themselves? I want to raise daughters that love their own company. I want to raise daughters that like themselves deeply and truly.
I give your yourselves.