I wasn’t sure I’d live this long. Maybe, if like me you have a difficult chronic illness such as diabetes or cancer, it’s easy to imagine an early end-of-life. But here I am, essentially quite healthy, living with both type 1 diabetes AND my third round of breast cancer. Go figure!
In a few weeks, on Monday, May 12th, a Full Moon, I’m going to turn 60.
I confess, I’m amazed. Even a bit in awe. I’ve got plans to celebrate. Let me tell you about it. I share these plans with two hopes. One that you will tell me how you celebrate big birthdays and two, perhaps inspire you to celebrate fully!! After all, why not!
Ten years ago, to celebrate turning 50, I didn’t have very many friends who lived near me in Minnesota, where I live now. I decided to take myself and my dog to a local state park and hike into a campsite and spend the day and night communing with nature.
It was a good way to mark the passing of time and get in touch with myself. I remember meditating while inside my tent with Echo, my dog at the time, and realizing I needed and wanted to make close friends with people who lived close by. Additionally, I wanted to find a job I really liked and finish the book I had started.
Now ten years later, I’m pleased to note that I have a circle of incredible friends. I have a job I love, and that book I dreamed of finishing, is published! Perhaps there’s something to be said for envisioning where you want to go on momentous holidays like birthdays.
Have you ever set intentions on a birthday? If so, please tell me about how it went and how it turned out for you. I really enjoy hearing from you.
My astrologer friend Matthew Stelzner shared with me a birthday ritual process that I’m going to do parts of on May 12th. Here they are as inspiration for you.
Item 1: Go see the sunrise with my dog Sam
A birthday is when the Earth makes its way one full cycle around the Sun. Thus it is often called a Solar Return. Therefore along with your birth, the sun is what is being celebrated. I plan to walk from my apartment with my dog Sam to a good place to watch the sun rise in the Eastern sky.
I intend to thank the sun for blessing my life and being with me day in and day out. As the sun rises, I will meditate and experience visceral gratitude for this one wild and beautiful life I am living.
Item 2: Go get an acupuncture treatment
Acupuncture continues to improve the quality of my life. I was lucky that I got to schedule with my incredible acupuncturist John Falls exactly on my birthday. Such luck to get to see him today on my Solar Return.
Item 3: Do a Birthday Tarot Card Reading
I got my first tarot card deck when I was 18, for my birthday. That was way back in 1983, the year I graduated from high school. I had an inkling way back then that Catholicism wasn’t speaking to my heart. Tarot called to me. My dad gave me the money to take the bus to a local bookstore to get the deck I had my eye on. Since then, I’ve done regular readings with dozens of different decks.
I’m not a tarot expert, and I rely heavily on the card meanings outlined in the book. For the past five years or so, I have done at least one reading each month. If nothing else, it’s an opportunity to reflect and meditate and consider what I want and hope and desire in my life.
It’s also an opportunity to connect spiritually with my Guides and Angels. It’s a chance to feel my connection to all that is.
Doing a reading on my birthday will remind me that I am never alone.
Item 4: Clean my apartment
Not a deep clean, but a “tidy-up clean.” I appreciate a tidy living space.
My big goal to celebrate turning 60 years old is to run three half marathons in three months. Turns out this is a better way for this body to take on an athletic challenge. I do love a good athletic challenge.
I am doing the first one, the Get In Gear, on April 26th. The second one, Madeline Island on May 17th, and the third one, the Garry Bjorklund on June 21st.
The second one is on Madeline Island in Wisconsin. Nine of us are staying at a Vrbo house. Two of us are camping and another three are staying at a local inn. In total, fourteen of us will gather the evening after the race to celebrate our athletic accomplishments and celebrate my birthday.
Therefore, having my apartment tidy before heading to Madeline Island will just feel good!
Item 5: Have a birthday fire with a few of my dearest friends
The best part of this early evening gathering on my actual birthday is that I have dear friends!
Dear friends who WANT to hang out with me and laugh and give me wishes and remind me that I am a good person. Growing up in a family that didn’t really value who I was made me doubt on a cellular level my intrinsic value as a human.
I have and continue to work on healing that wound. Having friends that I love and who I know love me is a blessing for which I am deeply grateful. Plus we will get to see the full moon rise.
Thanks for reading along as I gear up to celebrate this BIG birthday!
And remember, please tell me how you celebrate big birthdays. I love hearing from you.
My big 6-0 is next year. The only time I ever celebrated a birthday as an adult was in 2008. My boss’ birthday was the day after mine, and we were both dispatched on the same wildfire in our district. The wife of one of the retirees made a cake and brought it to the command center. This was before I contracted T1, so I was able to eat it. It was a nice, but short break from the chaos.
Happy 59th to you this year Cabe! I love your story of the cake in 2008!! Perhaps turning 60 is another opportunity for a celebration!!