Today, I'm the birthday girl, and yes, I am one of those people who celebrates her birthday for like three weeks. I think this is from my past life in corporate marketing... you need an ample promotional period leading up to the big day to hype the crowd and then you need appropriate wind down time afterward to collect the delayed responders. I'm kidding. Sort of. Not really.
It's not that I need big fanfare. I don't. It's that I love to throw a theme party, get others jazzed and find a reason to savor the moment. Birthdays - mine or anyone else's for that matter provide the perfect platform to do all of those things. So today I had all kinds of buzzing energy and couldn't sleep - so why bother! I got up at 2:45 a.m. since it seemed like the perfect opportunity to accomplish the baking experiment that didn't get ticked off my to do list yesterday. In the wee hours of the dark, rainy (but fairly balmy!) morning, I drove to two 24-hour grocery stores to pick up my ingredients. Now normally, if a grocery store doesn't have everything I'm looking for, my head begins to rotate and I turn in to my evil twin "Michelle." Today? No ma'am. Today I took the opportunity to savor the drive to the other grocery store and listened to some new tunes in the car.
It was glorious. I cracked the windows and let some fresh chilly air in and I sang as I drove. Not my usual loud, crazy, maniacal singing, this was different. It was pure contentment. I perused the aisles at grocery store numero two and still didn't find what I was looking for. Oh well. This gave me the perfect opportunity to stray from the recipe I had earmarked and develop my own creation. See what I did there? Managed to take adversity and turn it in to an opportunity to roll with it and get creative. And the magic muffins I came up with, while they aren't going to win any awards, I wouldn't kick them out of bed, either. Not to mention, those little muffins provided the perfect chance to drop some goodies off to friends throughout the day.
After coming home and making the world's strongest french press - which I inhaled deeply upon plunging and let roll on my palate as I sipped - (see that? I savored again.) - I began my baking experiment. I threw a load of laundry in. And before I knew it, it was time for my 6 a.m. Pure Barre class. Now normally I do a pretty damn good job of enjoying my exercise regimen. As with anything, some days are easier than others, but today I dialed the 'eff in and had the world's best work out. I felt long, lean, flexible, happy, strong. I felt strong even when I was shaking. I savored the shake. I savored the stretch. I savored the sweat on my brow. I ate it all up with a giant-sized-pink-birthday-Shelley spoon (think one of those cute Baskin Robbins spoons, but not nearly as likely to cut your tongue on a rogue, unfinished edge). Marvelous.
As I drove home from class one of my favorite jams at the moment popped up on my playlist. It was "The" perfect soundtrack to my day, to the moment, to the art of the savor. With lyrics like "hold on when you get love and let go when you give it," it embodied exactly what it means to savor. To live gracefully. To live in the moment. To be at one with the world around you. And to just generally kick ass as a human being making happiness where you find it. If you think about that idea: holding on to the love you are given (in other words the good stuff) and to be sure you let go completely when you give love (in other words, giving with no strings attached or a sense of expectation) you could probably rule your own little world pretty awesomely.
Alright, I'm off to savor some more. Breakfast with my bro, his wife, my nephew and my mom. This birthday already is blowing this crazy mop top back. And on this my 32nd birthday, I am holding on to all the love everyone is sending my way and you bet your tight, toned buns I'm letting go cheerfully as I beam it back out in to the universe to you all! Cheers babes and dudes!
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