Issue #131: In Defense of a Two-Day Birthday Celebration
Plus, 5 journal prompts (and my answers).
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📚 Grief is for People by Sloane Crosley: “No one is obliged to learn something from loss. This is a horrible thing we do to the newly stricken, encouraging them to remember the good times while they’re still in fetal position.” At first, it seems like memoirist Sloane Crosley is referring to the burglary of her grandmother’s jewelry, before sharing that her friend Russell took his life a month earlier. She’s talking about both losses. The two exist on different planes, yet Sloane examines them side-by-side, drawing commonalities between the two. I wasn’t sure I wanted to read a memoir so heavy with loss, but the juxtaposition between grief and joy, and the loss of jewelry and a person, have the effect of a motor that kept me turning every page.
🎥 ‘Drive-Away Dolls,’ in theaters: It’s a classic Coen brothers trope—novices stumble into a messy criminal plot and slapstick hijinks ensue. The latest, written by Ethan Coen and his wife Tricia Cooke, follows Jamie (Margaret Qualley), who’s fresh off of a breakup, and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) after they discover a mysterious suitcase in the back of a car they’ve rented to get to Tallahassee. It’s fun and packed with surprises and psychedelic trips. That being said, it may be worth staying home to watch a Coen brothers classic, like ‘Raising Arizona’ or ‘The Big Lebowski’ if you have yet to see them!
🎧 “This is Love” Podcast: When Lynne Cox was a teenager, she was swimming in the Pacific Ocean, as she did every morning to train, when a lost baby gray whale began swimming alongside her. She stayed with it for over five hours, treading water until its mother finally joined them. This heartwarming podcast, with episodes around 30-minutes long, is about love in its many different forms, including between family, species, self, and passions.
P.S. I’m also excited to watch the new FX series Shogun and read Tommy Orange’s latest novel, Wandering Stars, both out today! If you have the time and also loved ‘the Taste of Things,’ maybe catch a screening of this four-hour documentary on a French restaurant.
The day before my birthday this Sunday, I angled my chest upwards to twist into Revolved Triangle Pose. It was just a few minutes after 8 am, and the beam of sunlight that had been traveling across the yoga studio had finally reached my mat. I closed my eyes, letting it warm my face, and listened to the teacher. As we all held the pose, she told us about Satguru, which translates to “true guru” in Sanskrit. There are many ways of understanding this concept, but she described as a deep, true sense of inner knowing that we can tap into.
Until last year, I have always dismissed and even hated birthdays. As happy as I was to celebrate my friends, I judged those who had the nerve to announce things like “It’s my birthday month,” rather than endure the day in silent dignity. It felt ridiculous to call attention to something as “unearned” as turning another year older. It almost makes me want to laugh at just how totally off-base I was…
My thirties have taught me that getting older is not a given, and there are few things as worthy of celebration as the fact that we are alive and get to turn another year older. I have never felt so grounded or sure of myself heading into a birthday, and although this one was incredibly simple, it was my favorite yet. I celebrated my 32nd birthday over two days: first by myself in solo reflection, tapping into my own true knowing, then in celebration with friends. Here’s how I spent each, including lots of photos, reflection questions and my journaled responses, and inspiration for your own birthday:
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