Yesterday was my day of birth. Again. Birthdays, for those of us lucky to be born before, on or after a major holiday usually suck. Like “Here’s your birthday Christmas card/present/wish” suck. Like, would love to celebrate with you but I’ve got way more awesome stuff to do. Like on my 5th birthday, when I invited all my classmates - and not one person showed up. Granted, this was in Kenya and everyone one of them went home to the UK for the holidays but whatever. I'm still working that through in therapy. Only slightly kidding. As I've gotten older - and my expectations have gotten WAY lower - my day of birth has become more of a reflection of the year behind me and a convoluted plan about what the year before me will look like. This year - a year that has seen a lot of people I love go through some pretty rough times - my day of birth was full of gratitude. I have good people in my life and their humor and common sense can soothe me even the darkest days. And, while I did break some pretty substantial bones and put myself flat on my back and deep in medical debt, I did NOT lose a parent in a horrific accident, have my husband demand a divorce in the most callus way ever, get committed to a mental institution, get dumped in a five minute phone call, have a heart attack, lose a sibling, abandon a friend, end a long term relationship three days before Christmas, get diagnosed with cancer, get fired two days before Christmas, have to put my parent in a home… And those are just the ‘highlights’ of the 2016: Things That Have Gone Wrong List. I didn't even cover the death of Prince and Alan Rickman and George Michael and Carrie Fisher and, and, and, all the other people who shaped my world. My mom’s birthday ‘wish’ to me sums it all up: “Perhaps you shouldn’t answer the phone or check your email or go online until the year is over.” My mom is wicked smart and usually her advice irritates the poop out of me but I will be taking her up on this. Four more days left. This is a Worry Tree I made for a friend. Worries are written on the ‘leaves’ and become part of the tree. In theory, once they’re written down, they’re out of your head. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out regardless of its effectiveness. Because at the root of it, we all need to work on getting the ick out of our heads and hearts and moving forward into 2017 with hope and health and happiness.
Be well, people. Be well.
2 Comments
Well-in-my-day
12/28/2016 04:27:09 pm
My sister is visiting us this week. We adore her. I just realized that she is a worrier. I learned how not to worry starting when I was a kid. Our wise Mom used to say, "Don't be a worry wart." I so much did NOT want to be any kind of wart that I figured out how not to worry. But my sister didn't. Now we're old and set in our ways, but maybe I should get her a Worry Tree!
Reply
ej
12/29/2016 04:47:24 am
I know that writing things down can help stop them from swirling around my head at 3am. Of course, most of the things I start worrying about show up AT 3am so that might not be the best time to reach for a pen and tiny 'leaf' and try write them down - but perhaps preemptive measures will help...
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorMy name is ej. I'm a girl. I say that because with the short hair and the short initials, folks aren't always sure. More brilliant insights to who I am in About me Archives
April 2019
Categories
All
|