The Month of Mae

How available are you for celebrating yourself, and allowing others to celebrate you?

Two longtime friends took me out for my birthday last week. Wowzers, does the team at ​Farmhouse Thai​ turn UP the volume on Happy Birthday! With the first eruption at a neighboring table, I firmly told my friends: “Please, don’t.”

I like birthdays to look more like:

• Hosting house parties where the exercise is gratitude for each person on the invite list each year. We’re scream-singing 80s songs, not that tired Happy Birthday dirge. (Can someone please create a new birthday song?)

• Letting friends treat me to walks in the woods, drives to the beach, laughs over great food

• Taking myself out for extended travel (more on that next week!)

• Reflecting on the fabulous year gone by and the I-can’t-wait-to-see-you energy for the year ahead

Now you know why I need an entire month to celebrate my existence. I call it the Month of Mae.

Truly I’m learning to celebrate myself every day and every moment, because what once seemed indulgent now I know is essential for living in alignment with my life’s purpose to serve my community.

How available are you for celebrating yourself, and allowing others to celebrate you?