I've always loved birthdays. Any excuse to celebrate! And I've gone BIG on many of mine in the past. But not this year.
My 36th birthday didn't involved cakes, champagne or flashy trips to Las Vegas. It came nowhere close to the luxurious parties I had with friends on the La Jolla coast of So Cal in the past. I didn’t get to celebrate while in Bali with my best friend.
Thank goodness.
This birthday was special and SIMPLE. Isaac came with me to massage school to teach anatomy. He said "deltoid" and "trapezius" in his own toddler way. The students giggled and a memory imprinted on my heart.
I went for a bike ride in our quaint neighborhood and played with my dogs. I reflected on the past 6 months of 2018 and how incredibly joyful and challenging they have been.
I thought about what I want for the next 6 months of this year. I meditated on the incredible people in my life who reach out daily to connect and was appreciative of those who I’ve lost touch with but who reached out yesterday. I smiled upon the garden my husband built for me and the rain falling on it.
Today is also a special day.
I get to celebrate 20 months of motherhood. Now that I am a mother, I view birthdays as a celebration of me as much as I do as a celebration of my mom - Joyce Hosford. So - Happy belated birthday mom.
The celebration and the milestone marker of a birthday is sweet and it can initiate a multitude of pleasures and/or changes. But, it's vitally important to me these days that every day is a birthday like celebration.
I like to acknowledge that every day is special. And that some days are HARD. Really hard. But, that there is always something magical there if you look for it. I enjoy taking the pressure off the birth-day and placing it on conscious and mindful decision making every-day.
This has been my favorite quote for as long as I’ve known what a quote is: Each day comes bearing gifts; untie the ribbons!
I hope that today feels like a birthday for you.
