General Lunacy

Merry Birthday to Me

Having a Christmas Eve birthday comes with a few pitfalls. Just for an illustration, I always spend any birthday gift cards on Christmas presents for others. I’m specifically thinking about the Barnes and Noble gift card I spent yesterday in the name of Christmas spirit…I am the soul of magnanimity, I know, to sacrifice money gifted to me for my FAVORITE STORE.

But it’s mostly beautiful. Everyone is already reflecting on the qualities of most value in life, those meaningful intangibles we forget about through our waking day-to-days. Even if my birthday goes forgotten amidst the hoopla, I don’t care – people are seeking out that which is fulfilling and lasting. Love, kindness, generosity, family, spiritual wholeness, worship; this atmosphere makes for a pretty satisfying birthday experience, with the universe striving for peace, grace and love. I reap the rewards of a season of celebration every birthday.

I am fortunate – blessed with thoughtful friends and family who go out of their way to remember me today, which always impresses me because I have a hard enough time remembering birthdays even without the business of a holiday season. Shoot, I have trouble even keeping track of the day of the week, and that’ll probably only worsen as the years pass.

This year I exit my twenties, and it seems remiss of me to not pause for a bit of gratitude and anticipation for this next chapter of life. I’m looking forward to it. When my husband asked me if I had any words of wisdom about life this morning, I said, “Partay!” He laughed and protested in good humor, shouldn’t I be settling into old age, career, family, stability? I shook my head. “Nope. My twenties were wasted on responsibility and anxieties. My thirties are to party.

Well, that and to kick this back ache I’ve had lately. I’m assuming it’s the old age in my bones telling me to do more yoga and less desk-sitting, like Gollum bent over his precious ring.

I was half-joking about the party. No, I’m not going to spend my nights partying at the club and developing a nasty coke habit to sustain my wild ways, for those of you who were concerned. What I mean is, I’m ready to enjoy life now. Travel, children, a meaningful career – I’m finding my way out of the drudgery of meaningless duty and learning to enjoy life, because I’ll only have one shot at this.

Plus, who knows how long I’ll have? Tomorrow’s not guaranteed, as that Mayan scare taught us all. Not that I think Jesus would’ve let the world end just a few days before his birthday…

Actually, maybe he would have, I don’t pretend to know his game plan. He’s a pretty clever divinity, and that would’ve thrown us all off the scent.

In any case, Merry Christmas to my fellow savior-worshipers and Happy belated-Hannukuh to my Jewish peeps. Happy anything else I forgot, too, like Boxing Day or the Winter Solstice…

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