{"product_id":"letter-028-none-written-rules","title":"Letter 028 — None Written Rules","description":"\u003cp\u003eDear me,\u003cbr\u003eOnce upon a time — because all the best and worst things start this way — there was a kingdom. Not the kind with dragons and dark forests, though we'll get to those. This one had something far more dangerous. Women.\u003cbr\u003eThe kingdom had a rule. Unwritten, naturally. The best rules always are — that way nobody has to admit they agreed to them.\u003cbr\u003eThe rule was this: Every girl born into the kingdom would be handed, at birth, along with her name and her first breath, a crown. Not to wear. To chase.\u003cbr\u003eThe crown belonged to the prince. The prince belonged to the story. And the story belonged to everyone — which is to say, to no one — which is to say, to the kingdom itself.\u003cbr\u003eAnd so the girls grew up understanding, without ever being told directly, that the point of the whole thing was to be chosen. To be seen. To be selected. To be made real by someone else's wanting.\u003cbr\u003eAnd aren't we good at those little things? Bright smiles for breakfast, effortless casual for lunch, and intriguingly vain for dinner. Every 24 hours, by the clock. Tick tock. Tick tock. We brush each other's hair, we take walks in the gardens, giggle under a cotton umbrella, hiding from the sun. All girls' stuff. Great — until. Well. Until the prince gets there and fucks it all up.\u003cbr\u003eYou see, not every story has a happy ending. And not every princess gives a fuck about the prince. Some were waiting for his horse.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e—\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere is the part the fairy tale never tells you. Here is the part I had to figure out by being on both sides of it. The women who couldn't support each other weren't cruel by nature. They were frightened by design.\u003cbr\u003eThe Kingdom had one final rule: If you are not chosen, you are rejected. The Kingdom called it rivalry. I think it was simply mathematics taught to frightened little girls.\u003cbr\u003eA girl raised to believe her worth lives in being chosen will, inevitably, see every other woman as competition for the choosing. Not because she wants to. Because the kingdom taught her that the crown is singular. That there is only one prince. That the throne only fits one.\u003cbr\u003eShe is not a villain. She is terrified. Because what if there is no prince for her? What if him choosing her friend ruins her entire life?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e—\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd worse — what if the prince chooses one of those women who looked at the crown, looked at the prince, looked at the throne, and said: \"No, thank you. I'll take the horse.\"\u003cbr\u003eNot because they didn't want love. They wanted to ride. To run with the wind until their hair stopped being decorative and started being a weapon. To be friends with the dragon. And frankly, waiting to be rescued had always seemed like a spectacular waste of a Tuesday.\u003cbr\u003eYes. Those are the witches. The bitches. I have been both women.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align:center\"\u003e—\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDear me,\u003cbr\u003eThe kingdom is not the enemy. Neither are the women in it. Maybe I was wrong to dismiss L. so quickly — when she was only following the rules of the kingdom. Because she genuinely wants the prince. And because she is so close to getting him. While I'm only hoping for the horse.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Love Letters To Myself","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":57916290138443,"sku":null,"price":1.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1064\/4802\/7979\/files\/LLTM_Banner_2_3983ad41-77c0-4529-bd4a-ec4947d63aa9.jpg?v=1785562946","url":"https:\/\/loveletterstomyself.co\/products\/letter-028-none-written-rules","provider":"Love Letters To Myself","version":"1.0","type":"link"}