1000 SOULS IN ME
For you, as you begin a new journey
Dear our younger soul,
Months ago, we held this book together
as you closed one journey
and stood at the beginning of another.
Sometimes,
I have held the same book
beside someone who had already travelled
many roads for decades.
And somehow,
I saw in the young soul the old soul.
I saw in the old soul the young soul.
Perhaps age is not the whole story of a soul.
And to our younger soul,
as you enter university
and begin living away from family,
remember:
you already have “1000 Souls in Me.”
Within each of us
there are already a thousand souls—
the brave one,
the afraid one,
the curious one,
the one who wants to belong,
the one who wants to be different,
the child who still needs home,
and the young woman
ready to discover her own world.
A new journey will teach you many things.
But I hope these coming years
will not only be about
what you learn.
I hope they will also be about
who you discover yourself to be.
Try things before you know
whether you will be good at them.
Meet people different from you.
Ask questions.
Make mistakes.
Love.
Lose.
Begin again.
Sometimes follow others.
Sometimes walk alone.
And when the world becomes noisy,
come back and listen—
there may be another soul inside you,
quietly waiting for her turn to live.
You do not need to become anyone.
You do not need to become
what anyone has imagined for you.
Become more and more yourself.
And remember:
Behind you is a family
that has walked many roads before you.
Beside you are people
who will walk some roads with you.
But ahead of you—
there is a road
that only you can walk.
So go, con nhé.
Go meet the world.
Go meet your 1000 souls.
And one beautiful day,
perhaps you will look back
and realise—
you were never becoming
one perfect version of yourself.
You were learning
to welcome all the beautiful lives within you,
and choosing, again and again,
which soul you want to bring into the world.
With love and gratitude,
Jen
August 2026 — the beginning of a new journey.
