Yesterday it was my birthday! And since celebrating myself is one of my biggest passions and I have quite a talent for it, I thought I might as well write a short post about that.
Defining self-celebrating
Merriam-Webster defines to celebrate as: “to recognize a notable event (such as a birthday or anniversary) by doing something special or enjoyable; to honor (an occasion, as a holiday) especially with ceremonies or by stopping ordinary business”. I would then define self-celebrating as: ‘to make a notable event extra special by doing something to honour and/or enjoy yourself’.
Notable event
In life, there are bigger milestones that feel more accepted to celebrate, such as a promotion, buying a house or graduating college. But I think celebrating small moments is an amazing way to add more whimsy and gratitude to your life. You can celebrate a compliment you got from a stranger, completing an online course, finishing a book or seeing the flowers you planted in your garden bloom for the first time. When something happens that is meaningful to you, no matter what it is, you can let it pass you by like it is any other day, or you can mark the occasion by doing something special.
Making it special
Making something special means something different for everyone. For me, it could be: wearing a nice outfit, buying myself flowers, dancing to my favourite song, putting chocolate pieces in my cereal. Just some little things to brighten up your otherwise normal day.
Stopping ordinary business
If you have something to celebrate on a work day and you can’t take the time for an extensive celebration, you can just carve out a little time/space for it. Buy yourself your favorite dessert when you get your groceries, wear your favorite jewelry, or take out five minutes to do a little happy dance for something good that happened to you. Make an ordinary day just a little more special by showing yourself that things do not go unnoticed.
Honour
On your special occasion, you can choose to honour something or someone. My interpretation of that is to meditate a little on the event and its circumstances. For example, you can reflect on the skills that got you a promotion. You can sit in the garden and watch all the different colours of the flowers you planted in winter (I’m very happy about my new garden, if you couldn’t tell). Or you can think about the people you have felt closest to lately. With some mindful attention you can acknowledge that a good thing happened, before you go about your day again.
Birthdays
The thing about birthdays is that there should be no rules or expectations on how to celebrate it. If you want to do nothing, you should be able to guiltlessly do that. If you want a big party, go for it! But there are so many other options. If your idea of having a good time is to watch movies all night on the couch with a tub of ice cream, do that! But you can add a little extra something. Watch something you know you’ll enjoy. Get your favorite ice cream. Hell, light a candle if you feel like it. Do something special for yourself to feel a little extra love. Something that will make you smile. It doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else. In fact, no one needs to know. It’s your day. To hell with everyone else. Just do the things that make you happy, possibly with the people that make you happy. You don’t have to celebrate the fact you were born that day, but you can celebrate and honour yourself and your existence. Remind yourself what you are proud of and grateful for. That’s what birthdays mean to me.
Personal example
So yesterday, I had planned to go to a theme park with my sister, but the weather was so bad that we decided to just stay in and chill, which was perfect, since we were both tired of our weeks. I stayed in bed until noon, had a nice shower, put on a cute outfit, unwrapped a present I had bought for myself, danced a little in my living room and then my sister came over. We just talked and laughed and ate junk food. We watched a movie that used to be one of my favourites as a teenager and I went to sleep at 11. Perfection. And today, the celebrations continue because tonight I’m hosting a little party for my closest friends at my house. I usually prefer a few smaller gatherings to one bigger event, but I thought: I’m turning 30, might as well go all out this time! And tonight, I’m not just celebrating myself. I will be honouring the most important people in my life as well by cooking for them, writing compliments on notes and putting them in a bowl, and maybe I’ll even speech, if the spirit moves me.
Exercise of the day
The next time something happens that makes you feel happy, proud or grateful, however big or small, make sure to do something for yourself that you know you’ll enjoy. That’s it 🙂
Tea Time With Amber 