It's my birthday today.
I didn't really notice until yesterday that it was coming up on me. Today I slept in a little, discussed real estate in the morning, worked some, and am now in a cafe doing odds and ends with a coffee and some good bread and pastries (it's cheat day on my diet).
Tonight, I might have dinner with a friend or might not, and today is otherwise a normal day like tomorrow.
It seems like a lot of the time, I mention this to someone and they say "oh, that's so sad! why don't you have a celebration?"
And I never had a good answer to that. Now, I think I do.
I don't need to wait for a festival to celebrate. I have pretty ridiculous celebrations fairly often, regardless of what day it is.
Most people don't do that. I had quite a few days last month in Japan that were just unreal and surreal and fantastic.
Periodically I think it'd be good to celebrate, and I throw a celebration. If you want to "theme" it, there's always something happening in the world to have as a theme for your event.
The point isn't that my birthday is no particular big deal, it's that I don't need to use the calendar to decide when I celebrate. When there's a massive triumph that calls for a celebration, then we'll throw a celebration. But randomly celebrating is alright too, if the opportunity comes up or it feels like the right thing to do.
I'm not putting down celebrations in general - Christmas, New Year's, birthdays, whatever. Many people just simply won't stop, reflect, and act to celebrate without promptly, and the festival days are a good reprieve for them.
But I think you don't have to wait. The two attitudes work together quite well - not putting too much importance on any given festival or holiday, and simultaneously embracing a life of celebration and festivity and action.
I will get myself a little piece of chocolate later, though, with my coffee. And I'm listening to Camille Saint-Saëns. Best birthday ever? Meh, it's all the same to me. But maybe yes!