Dear reader,

A couple of weeks ago, i was out with some of my friends and a few people laughed at me because of Dear Daisy. They called it weird. Cringy. They laughed, and that was that.

I don't even think they thought about it again. I did. But ot because they hurt my feelings more than anyone ever has. But because it made me realise how easy it is to judge something when you have no idea why it exists.

To them, this is just a website. To me, it became something completely different. Dear Daisy genuinely helped me through one of the hardest periods of my life.

Not because writing suddenly fixed everything. Because It really didn't. I still had days where getting out of bed felt difficult. I still had nights where my thoughts wouldn't leave me alone. I still had moments where I felt completely lost. But every Sunday, I had a reason to sit down and write. Every week, I had something that reminded me there was still a reason to keep showing up.

Slowly, without even noticing, it gave me something I'd lost.

A purpose.

I often wonder what those people would've said if they'd known that. If they'd known this wasn't just a random idea I'd had one afternoon. If they'd known these letters were written on nights when this was the only thing that kept me going. If they'd known that building this website became part of how I got through some really difficult days or weeks.

I honestly think they would've looked at it differently. And that made me think about something else.

How many things do we laugh at because we only see the outside? How many people do we judge because we only know five minutes of their story?

And, look, I’m not saying I’ve never done those things in the past, but after experiencing certain things in my life over the past few months I’ve come to realise how much people hide. One ‘little’ harsh comment you might say towards someone could be meaningless to you but it could be their breaking point. 

The quiet person, the loud person, the one who cares too much, the one who's trying a little harder than everyone else. We never really know what's going on underneath. Maybe that's why I've stopped worrying so much about looking "cringy."

Because, honestly, if caring about people is embarrassing, then I don't really want to stop. I'd rather write something that reaches one person than write nothing because I was worried what everyone else might think.

And maybe that's something you need to hear too.

If you've stopped doing something because someone laughed at you, please start again.

If you've hidden part of yourself because someone called you weird, I hope one day you let that part of yourself come back.

The truth is, somebody will always have an opinion. If it's not your dream or goals, it'll be your appearance. If it's not your appearance, it'll be your personality. If it's not your personality, it'll be the way you choose to live your life or the foods you choose to eat, or the TV shows you like to watch, or even the way you might like to sleep with a light on.

If you spend your whole life trying to keep everyone else happy, you'll wake up one day and realise you've forgotten to ask yourself what makes YOU happy.

You weren't put on this earth to fit neatly into somebody else's idea of who you should be. You were put here to live a life that feels true to you. The people who matter will never ask you to become smaller just to make everyone else more comfortable.

So care deeply. Try anyway. Create things. Be excited about things. Be the person who loves something enough to risk looking a little "cringy."

Because at the end of your life, you won't regret the people who laughed. You'll regret the parts of yourself you buried just to avoid giving them something to laugh at.

Thank you for reading these letters every Sunday. Some of you have been here since the very beginning. Some of you have only just found Dear Daisy. Either way, thank you. 

Every week I watch my website views grow and grow and I wish I could show you the happiness it brings to my life. 

You might think you're just reading a website. But without realising it, you've helped give purpose to the person writing it. And that's something I'll never stop being grateful for.

With love,

Dear Daisy 🌼

Dear reader, 

I nearly didn't write this week's letter. Not because I didn't have time. But because I constantly keep thinking, “What if I don’t have anything worth saying?"

But this is exactly why Dear Daisy exists in the first place. It doesn't exist because I have life figured out. It exists because I definitely don't!

The truth is, I know what it's like to have your world change overnight. I know what it's like to lose someone you never imagined you'd lose and then wake up the next morning expecting life to somehow carry on as normal. I know what it's like to lose people who are still alive too. And to watch someone slowly become a stranger. To replay conversations in your head wondering where everything changed. To wish you could go back to a version of life that doesn't exist anymore.

Those things change you. They changed me.

For a while, I thought changing meant I'd lost the person I used to be. Now I think it just means life happened. And life happens to all of us eventually. 

Something I've never really understood is how our minds work when we're struggling. When we're happy, we believe good things can happen at any time. But when we're hurting, we somehow convince ourselves that we've already seen the whole story. We start to believe that one difficult week gets to decide what the rest of our lives will look like.

But I’m here to remind you that it doesn't. 

And please please please believe me when I say that I have been where some of you reading this have been. I’ve struggled, I’ve lost hope, I’ve wanted to give up. But I guess I’m now living proof that one bad period in your life doesn’t define you, and certainly doesn’t dig you into a hole that you’ll never be able to get out of!

And I know that's easy for me to write now. But if you're reading this feeling like everything is heavy, you might be thinking, “you still don’t understand.”

And maybe you're right. I don't know your story. I don't know what you've been carrying. But I do know what it feels like to sit in your room and wonder how everyone else seems to keep going while you're just trying to get through the day. I know what it feels like to smile because it's easier than explaining. I know what it feels like to want the noise in your head to stop for just five minutes.

That's one of the reasons I started Dear Daisy. Not to fix people. Not to tell people to "think positive” like we always get told. Just to create one small space on the internet where someone could come on a Sunday night and feel understood.

Maybe that's all this letter needs to be. A reminder that someone out there gets it. That someone is quietly hoping you wake up tomorrow and give life another chance.

Because here's something I keep coming back to. Every person you love now was once a stranger. Every memory you treasure now didn't exist yet. Every place that feels like home was once somewhere you'd never been. So how can any of us possibly know that there isn't something beautiful waiting that we just haven't reached yet?

Maybe that's what hope really is. Not being certain that everything will work out. But just simply accepting that we don't know what's around the corner.

And sometimes, not knowing is hopeful enough.

So if this week feels like too much, don't promise yourself a perfect month. Don't even promise yourself a perfect tomorrow. Just promise yourself that you'll stay curious about the future. Curious enough to see what happens next. Curious enough to read the next chapter. Curious enough to come back here next Sunday.

Because I want you to. I don’t know if these letter are actually reaching people. I might never know. But what I do know is that i have found something that got me out of my rabbit hole, and I know that you will too.

I will keep writing these letters, even if only one person ever reads them. Maybe that one person is you. And to me that's enough.

So, before you close this letter and before we go into the new week I want you to remember one thing.

The person you'll be a year from now is depending on the person you are today to keep going. They don't need you to have everything figured out, they don't need you to stop hurting overnight, they just need you to give them the chance to exist.

So, if all you do this week is hold on, that's enough. Because one day, you'll look back at this version of yourself and thank yourself for not giving up.

With love,

Dear Daisy 🌼

Dear reader,

This Sunday Letter is a little different. Normally I sit here and write about you. But this week, I thought I'd be honest about me.

Every Sunday I open my iPad, sit down, and start writing these letters. And every single week, I wonder the same thing.

“Is anyone actually reading this?”

But the truth is I have absolutely no idea. Maybe these words reach hundreds of people. Maybe they reach one. Or maybe they reach nobody at all. But I still write them because a part of me hopes that somewhere, on a Sunday evening, someone stumbles across Dear Daisy and feels just a tiny bit less alone.

Maybe that's you. If it is, then I'm really glad you're here!

Something I've realised recently is that the people who try the hardest to help others don't always have everything figured out themselves.

I definitely don't. I still overthink. I still have days where I doubt myself. I still have moments where I wonder if I'm doing enough or whether any of this is making a difference.

And to be honest, Dear Daisy was born from some of the hardest moments of my own life. But my experiences made me realise just how important it is to have somewhere to turn when life feels too heavy. Over these past two weeks I lost someone I never thought I'd have to watch walk out of my life, and, although it isn’t the hardest thing I’ve been through in my life, it never gets easier to understand and comprehend.

But that's why I started this. Not because I have all the answers. But because I know what it's like to need hope and not know where to find it.

Dear Daisy was never about pretending everything will be okay. It was about creating the kind of place I wish existed when I needed it most. A place where you don't have to pretend, a place where it's okay to have a bad day, and a place where someone reminds you that tomorrow is still worth showing up for.

If these letters have ever made you stop for a minute, If they've ever made you feel understood, If they've ever helped you through even one difficult evening...

Then they've already done more than I ever hoped they would.

So thank you. Thank you for reading. Thank you for coming back. Thank you for letting me be even just a tiny part of your Sunday!

As another week begins, I don't want you to put pressure on yourself to have everything sorted. You don't need to become a whole new person by Friday. You don't need to heal all at once. You don't need to prove anything to anyone. Just keep going, please!

Keep choosing tomorrow. Keep believing that your story isn't over yet. Because I genuinely believe some of the best moments of your life are still waiting for you.

There are people you haven't met yet. Conversations that will stay with you forever. Places that will make you feel at home. Days that will remind you why you held on.

So whatever this week brings, promise me one thing: Be kind to yourself even on the days when that's the hardest thing to do.

And if this letter is the only bit of hope you have tonight, borrow it until you can find your own again.

I'll be here next Sunday.

I hope you will be too.

With love,

Dear Daisy 🌼

Dear reader,

Do you ever find yourself missing the person you used to be?

Not because life was perfect back then, but because something about you just felt a little lighter. Maybe you laughed without thinking about it, maybe you didn't replay every conversation in your head afterwards, maybe getting out of bed didn't feel like such a challenge or maybe you just weren't carrying so much all the time.

And then... life happened.

People changed. Friendships drifted. You got hurt. You lost people you never thought you'd lose. You found yourself carrying things you never expected to.

And somewhere along the way, you stopped feeling like yourself. Maybe you've even caught yourself wishing you could go back to the old you.

If you have, you're definitely not the only one.

I think so many of us quietly miss the version of ourselves that felt a little more carefree, a little more hopeful, or simply a little less weighed down.

But what if that version of you hasn't disappeared?

What if they're just tired?

What if they've been carrying so much for so long that they've forgotten what it feels like to breathe without the weight of it all?

I don't think you've lost yourself. I just think life has asked a lot of you lately. And there's a difference!

So please don't be hard on yourself for changing. You were never meant to stay the same forever. Look at everything you've had to face. Of course you've changed. Anyone would have.

But I also think you've grown in ways you probably don't even realise.

Maybe you've become kinder. Maybe you've become stronger than you give yourself credit for. Maybe you've learned how to keep going on days you never thought you'd get through.

As this Sunday comes to an end, I don't want you to spend another week trying to become the person you used to be.

Instead, try getting to know the person you're becoming. Yes they might smile a little differently now. Yes they might be a little more careful with who they trust. And yes they might still be healing.

But they're still worthy of love. They're still worthy of happiness. And they're still worthy of a life that feels exciting again.

So if tomorrow feels heavy, don't put pressure on yourself to become the "old you" overnight.

Just take one small step, one conversation, one walk, one song that makes you stop for a minute, one reason to believe that better days are still possible.

Because I truly believe this:

The best parts of you were never gone. They've just been waiting for a little bit of light. Maybe this week won't change everything. But maybe it'll remind you that you're still in there. And sometimes, that's exactly where healing begins.

With love,

Dear Daisy 🌼

Dear reader,

When was the last time someone asked if you were okay?

Not just the quick "How are you?" that people ask while already walking away. Not the polite conversation. I mean really asked.

The kind where they sit down beside you and stay long enough to hear the honest answer. Because I've been thinking about the people who spend their lives checking on everyone else. The people who remember birthdays, the people who notice when someone seems quieter than usual, the people who carry everyone else's worries without ever mentioning their own.

Maybe that's you. Maybe you're the friend everyone turns to when life gets difficult, maybe you're the person who always listens, always helps, always shows up.

And maybe somewhere along the way, you got used to carrying everything alone. You became so focused on making sure everyone else was okay that you forgot to ask yourself the same question.

And the strange thing is, nobody notices. Because you've become the strong one, the reliable one, the one who "always seems fine."

But being the strong one can be exhausting. Because sometimes the people who look strongest are actually the ones carrying the most. Sometimes the people making everyone laugh are the ones going home feeling lonely. Sometimes the people giving all the advice are the ones who need a hug the most.

And maybe tonight, that's you. Maybe you're reading this after spending another week holding yourself together, another week of saying "I'm okay", another week of carrying things that nobody knows about.

If so, I want you to hear this.

You’re cared for more than you think. You have so much to live for. Your struggles do not define you. You’re worthy of help and support no matter how small or big your struggles are. And you’re in the world for a reason so live for yourself and love yourself before anyone else!!

You are worthy of those things simply because you exist. Not just because of what you do for other people, not because of how useful you are, not because of how much you give. Just because you're you!

I know that's easy to write and harder to believe, but it's true. The people who love you would not want you carrying the world on your shoulders by yourself. And even if it feels like nobody notices your efforts, I promise they matter. All the kindness you've shown, all the messages you've sent, all the patience you've given, and all the times you've stayed when it would've been easier to leave.

Those things matter, more than you’ll probably ever know.

Someone, somewhere, is grateful for a moment you don't even remember. Even if it’s just a conversation, a smile, a kind word, a small act that felt ordinary to you but meant everything to them.

As this Sunday comes to an end, I don't want you to spend another night thinking about all the things you haven't done! Instead, think about everything you've already carried and everything you've already overcome and everything you've already given. And for once, give some of that kindness back to yourself.

The same kindness you hand out so freely to everyone else, because you deserve it too.

And if nobody has checked on you this week, let this letter do it for them.

How are you, really?

Whatever the answer is, you're welcome here, and you don't have to carry it alone.

With love,

Dear Daisy 🌼

Dear reader,

I don't know what this week looked like for you. Maybe it was good. Maybe it was terrible. Or maybe it was one of those strange weeks where nothing particularly bad happened, but somehow you still ended up feeling exhausted. The kind of tired that sleep doesn't fix, the kind that sits quietly in your chest, the kind that follows you around all day and tells you that you're not doing enough.

I've been thinking a lot this week about how many people are carrying things they never talk about. The pressure to succeed, the fear of disappointing people, the feeling that everyone else seems to be moving forward while you're standing still.

And maybe that's you. Maybe you've spent this week watching everyone else's lives move ahead while yours feels stuck. Maybe you've watched people fall in love while you're lonely. Maybe you've watched people achieve things you're still dreaming about. Maybe you've watched people smile while you're secretly trying not to fall apart.

And the hardest part? Nobody notices. Because you've become so good at pretending you're okay. You answer "I'm fine." You smile. You get on with it. And nobody sees how heavy things have become.

If that's where you are tonight, I need you to know something. You are not failing at life, you are definitely not broken, you are not falling behind, you are simply just a human being!

And being human is hard sometimes. The truth is, life isn't made up of giant breakthroughs every week. Most of life is spent in the middle or in the waiting or in the uncertainty. Or even in the chapters where nothing seems to be changing even though you're trying your best.

But just because you can't see growth doesn't mean it isn't happening. The healing doesn't happen overnight. Sometimes the bravest thing you'll do all week is keep going when there is no guarantee that things will get easier. And yet you do it anyway. That quiet courage deserves more credit than you give it.

 So, as this Sunday comes to an end, I want you to stop for a moment. Take a breath. Look at everything you've carried. Look at everything you've survived. Look at the fact that despite all the doubts, all the worries, all the moments you wanted to give up...

You're still here. And that matters way more than you know!

So if the week ahead feels impossible, don't focus on the next month, don't focus on the rest of the year, just focus on tomorrow. Then the day after that, and then the one after that.

Because sometimes we don't need a five-year plan. Sometimes we just need enough hope to make it to next Sunday.

And if you're struggling to find that hope tonight, borrow some from me, until you can find your own again.

With love,

Dear Daisy 🌼

Dear reader, 

If no one has told you this recently, I'm glad you're here. Not because you have everything figured out. Not because you've been strong every second of every day. Not because you've achieved something remarkable. Simply because you're here.

Somewhere out there, someone is reading this after a week that felt impossible. Maybe you've spent days fighting battles nobody could see, maybe you've smiled in front of people and cried when you got home, maybe you've carried worries so heavy that they felt stitched into your chest.

And yet, somehow, you made it to Sunday. The world often celebrates the loud victories, the promotions, the medals, the big milestones. But here at Dear Daisy, I want to celebrate a different kind of victory. The victory of getting out of bed when your mind begged you not to, the victory of choosing tomorrow when today felt overwhelming, the victory of surviving a week you weren't sure you could survive. Because survival is not weakness, survival is bravery and courage in its rawest form.

There is something I wish more people understood and that’s -  you do not need to be thriving to be worthy, you do not need to be healed to be loved, you do not need to have all the answers to deserve a future. Some of the strongest people I know are not the ones who never broke, they are the ones who kept going with cracks running through them.

A flower does not bloom because it is perfect. It blooms because despite the storms, despite the darkness underground, despite every reason not to, it chooses to grow.

And so can you.

Maybe right now you can't see the bigger picture. Maybe your future feels uncertain, blurry, or even frightening, that's okay! You don't need to see the whole staircase, you only need enough light for the next step.

• One conversation.

• One sunrise.

• One deep breath.

• One more day.

Sometimes hope isn't a roaring fire, sometimes hope is just simply a whisper saying, "Let's try again tomorrow."

As this Sunday comes to an end, I want you to leave with one thought: The fact that you're still here means your story is still being written. There are people you haven't met yet who will be grateful you stayed, there are laughs you haven't laughed yet, places you haven't seen, songs you haven't heard, moments of peace that are still making their way toward you.

So, please don't mistake a difficult chapter for the end of the book. You have survived every day that brought you here and, personally, I think that's extraordinary.

And if this Sunday Letter is the only thing you've held onto all week, then let it carry you a little further. Not because everything will magically get better tomorrow, but because as long as you're still here, there is still a chance for things to change. So stay. Stay for the week you haven't lived yet, for the moments you cannot see coming, and for the version of yourself who will one day be grateful that you did.

With love,

Dear Daisy 🌼