i've got myself a new mantra

I've loved this song since I first heard Ani DiFranco perform it. I was barely pregnant with Sadie, standing up close to the Town Park stage in Telluride, surrounded by 10,000 of my closest friends, listening adoringly to one of my top three. This song spoke to me then, it spoke to me while I was in labor and listening to it on my labor playlist, and it still speaks to me today. Thank you Ani for all the beautiful messages and inspiration you have brought to me over the years!

lately i've been glaring into mirrors
picking myself apart
you'd think at my age i'd have thought
of something better to do
than making insecurity into a full-time job
making insecurity into art
and i fear my life will be over
and i will have never lived unfettered
always glaring into mirrors
mad i don't look better

but now here is this tiny baby
and they say she looks just like me
and she is smiling at me
with that present infant glee
and yes i will defend
to the ends of the earth
her perfect right to be

so i'm beginning to see some problems
with the ongoing work of my mind
and i've got myself a new mantra
it says: "don't forget to have a good time"
don't let the sellers of stuff power enough
to rob you of your grace
love is all over the place

there's nothing wrong with your face
love is all over the place
there's nothing wrong with your face