Celebration of Life
It’s April! I love this month. Spring is here. The world, my world of nature, is starting to bloom slowly and I get to start playing outside. I feel like a little girl in a candy store each day observing the changes in our surrounding landscape. I can feel the breeze coming in through all the opened windows in my house. I watch the birds feed on their feeders. The fish await food each morning in the pond by my deck. The deer visit our woods freely as things blossom. But also, April is the month of my birthday.As a little girl and even as a grown up until the age of 40, my birthday came and went without much of a ripple. It was just another day in a busy life. I rarely even celebrated it. Truth be told, I hated the thought of getting older. I just ignored the entire day. In the past few years I have opted to celebrate all thirty days of April. My friends and family start wishing me birthday greetings from April 1st until the end of the month. They all know I take this month as an entire holiday. I also have many close friends who share this birthday month and I take it upon myself to celebrate for them as well.Each day I do something special for myself. It is my gift in honoring this grand privilege for existing. I take a different country scenic road. I will go bowling one morning (which I haven’t done in years). I will go test drive a car I really want but cannot afford. I will head to the beach for a few days. There are so many simple things to do on this month, many are free. And as the days go on I break the pattern of my life by doing something memorable to celebrate my forty-five years on this gorgeous planet.When my mother died eleven days before I turned 40 I promised myself that April would be the month that I would break free from all structure. It’s a blessing to attend this life. It’s a gift to be able to share it with so many. So April is my Christmas, New Years, Valentine’s Day, St. Patty’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and any other random holiday for me.In this month I awake consciously while being gentler with myself. I am kinder to my spirit. I don’t take things for granted. I make sure that each day I am fully aware of my existence and those I love. I rush less, love more, and try to learn something new each day, like tackling a different word in other languages. I know we should be doing this every single day but in April, I make sure I am conscious of all my moments. I am working towards doing a whole year of celebrating. April is just my trial run. I am so lucky that it is also the month when new birth springs into action and the winter is left behind. I am tired of the cold. April always brings that sense of anticipation, giddiness and exploration that my spirit loves so much.Last year a new friend of mine called me up on the 1st to wish me a Happy Birthday. After she sang the song and I giggled through it all, she asked what day was I actually born in? I told her, “Somewhere in the middle.” She got a little snippy and asked what day was that middle part? To this I said, “Everyday.” She laughed and said, “I am jealous. My birthday was last month and I should’ve sucked it all up for the entire 31 days.” Hey, live and learn.Celebrating your life is the most beautiful gift you can give yourself. I know…I drag it out every single day and each morning I wake up smiling while thanking the Divine for allowing me another precious day to learn. Now, go do something for yourself that is extraordinary!