the story behind my most popular poem

a look at the poem “to the person i am today”

this week, i've been reflecting on some of my poems in changing with the tides and wanted to talk about my most popular poem from the book. it goes like this…

to the person I am today:

I promise I will start loving you again.

i just need to remember

how it feels to be proud of you,

to look in the mirror and be in awe of you.

i just need to remember what it was like

before i told you

you weren’t good enough.

i buried you alive, piling

doubt and loathing

onto your body like soil,

so only i can bring you back to life.

(and i will.

i promise.)

-shelby leigh

this piece is one of the final pages of the book, and if you've read it, you'll know (spoiler alert!) the poems end on a high note about finding love for ourselves.

i wrote this particular poem as a letter to myself. a promise to treat me better than i had been. Little did I know when writing this poem that it would be read more than 15 million times by people all over the world!

this poem was written over three years ago, and i honestly don't know if i've held up my promise as much as i could have. or should have.

but, one thing i will always believe, is that finding love for ourselves never ends. it will always be something I strive for, and there will always be days that i fail. and that's okay!

i'm not saying that to scare you away from trying if you are on a similar journey. if you have days like that, please try not to be hard on yourself. (i know, it's easier said than done, right?)

keep this poem close by OR write your own promise to yourself. (and if you want to share, send me a dm on instagram. I’d love to read your promise!)

buy the book

buy the poetry print