Today I celebrate another revolution around the sun.
Unlike previous years, I made no plans. And not just because of the pandemic. I wanted today to be simple, to find comfort and joy in the smallest of tasks and actions. There were only 3 things I had to do today: 1) eat noodles, 2) buy alcohol, and 3) go to Flavor Cupcakery to get my free cupcake.
In 2012 I started to write down in a notebook exactly how I celebrated my birthday. I stopped journaling at the time so I must have wanted to remember and document my birthday, fearing I’d forget them and the people who helped make it special.
There were a few years when I performed at the INTERSECTIONS Festival at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Northeast DC as it usually falls around my birthday weekend. Once, I invited my friends over for a “make your own brunch” party. I even spent a weekend at the beach because why not go to the beach in the middle of winter? Sometimes I celebrated for a whole month, picked events and adventures, designed a postcard invitation and handed it out to friends to join me whenever they could. Almost always food and a brewery were involved. The most memorable was the year I went to the Baltimore Museum of Art with a few friends which lead to dinner, followed by a concert at the Rock & Roll Hotel. That birthday stands out because it was only partially planned (the museum) and the rest was impromptu.
Today, I got my free cupcake and a half dozen more, bought alcohol, and ate noodles. I had an early dinner with my family. We laughed often–the kind of laughter that comes from deep within. A very dear friend of mine surprised me with a FaceTime call. And so many people have reached out to wish me a very happy day and year. Now I’m about to blow out candles on an ice cream cake and make a wish.
All simple, extraordinary things.
three generations 