Sam Smith played to a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden last night — a pretty big deal for the 22-year-old British singer. Luckily, his father sent him a few words of encouragement to calm any nerves he may have had, which, considering the whole sold-out scenario in a venue as infamous as New York's MSG, were probably off the charts.
"My dad just sent a book to my dressing room at Madison Square with a book stop at this page," Smith captioned an Instagram of the novel. The page pictured contains a blurb titled "You Are A Flower" and reads as a call to parents to treat and accept their children as the individuals they're born as, rather than the people society will try to shape them into.
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"After crying like a baby, it made me think; after years of struggling and wanting to be everyone but myself, it was the day I decided to be me that things started to work," Smith wrote. His reflections on the pressures he's felt to be someone else — from his appearance to his emotions — are heartfelt and show that all humans, regardless of gender, feel a push to fit a certain mold. (Not all men can look like those Calvin Klein ads.)
His father's little reminder of how proud he is — much like the father of these twins — is the icing on this heartwarming cake. Sure, this was intended to boost Smith's morale on his big night, but his father's words of encouragement are words we can use everyday — whether we're performing in front of thousands or just for ourselves in the mirror.