Celebrating a Birthday

And small wins and everyday moments.

Hello lovely readers! How is everyone doing this week? Just checking in, and hope you take a moment to check in with yourself too. I’m feeling incredibly grateful as I celebrated my birthday over the weekend, which inspired this week’s word essay. As always, thank you for being here!

CELEBRATE: acknowledge a significant or happy day or event with a social gathering or enjoyable activity. (Source: Oxford Languages)

I spent the weekend celebrating my birthday with my family and all my favorite treats. For me, celebrating a significant event will always feature food as the intersecting point between social gathering and enjoyable activity. As Julia Child is famously credited as saying, “A party without cake is just a meeting.”

It was such an enjoyable day, starting with pain au chocolat with my daughter, Ava, at our favorite downtown bakery, plus picking up round two for the next morning, including a blueberry Danish and orange cardamom morning bun, as well as a baguette for that evening’s grazing board. We had lunch with my mom at a favorite place, a stellar mushroom pita wrap for me, a burger for mom, a pimento cheese sandwich for Ava, plus a bowl of hot, crispy hand cut fries with comeback dipping sauce for sharing.

We picked up a medley of favorite snacks for the evening nosh, cupcakes to accompany afternoon present opening, and bubbly to toast the night and have in a bubble bath (“bubbly bubble bath” is a tradition of mine and Ava’s, and she loves a good sparkling cider). My husband was home in time to have dinner and watch the Kentucky Derby, and he thoughtfully brought gifts, including a gorgeous bottle of wine that I can’t wait to open!

It was wonderful to hear from so many friends and family from around the world, and I thought about how lucky I am. My life is full of blessings and it felt so luxurious to have a whole day celebrating another day on this Earth. Birthdays are fraught for some people; maybe something traumatic happened, or it brings up bad memories, but as far as aging goes, I like what my trainer says: aging is a privilege. (I have also heard the adage that aging is the price we pay to stay alive.) It reminds me that each day is truly a gift, one that deserves to be celebrated.

I know that sometimes it’s all we can do to just get through the day, or to be so busy that life is a blur—we’re not always going to take stock or hold space. But I do think we can celebrate more frequently in small ways simply by doing something that brings you joy. It’s challenging, as so often we are told to delay gratification, or that we can have fun once all the work is done.

But like gratitude, I think learning to celebrate can be a practice, and something that becomes more second nature over time. The day after my birthday, I thought about what an enjoyable activity would be to keep the good vibes going—a walk at Mill Mountain, a moment to take in the beauty of Roanoke and the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains beyond, a stroll through the wildflower garden followed by ice cream.

What would it look like if you did something small to celebrate each day? Maybe it’s keeping a gratitude journal, whether jotting those moments down in a lovely notebook or a handy note in your phone. Maybe it’s sitting down together as a family for dinner, and perhaps sharing your win for the day. Maybe it’s a treat-yourself moment at the end of a hellish day. Maybe it is acknowledging the important people in your life; make time to see, call, or write to them. Making others feel celebrated is a way to celebrate, too. I’d love to hear from you and how you celebrate moments big and small in your life.