It’s my birthday month!
Happy April! This day is especially exciting because it’s the start of my birthday month! Can any of you relate to this feeling? I realize it might seem a bit excessive to celebrate all month long, but hear me out…
There was a time in my life when I felt self-conscious and awkward telling others it was my birthday. I would let the month roll by and then at the very last minute, try to gather friends to do something fun. One day I finally reframed it: my birthday was not about celebrating me, but about celebrating being here! Celebrating life. Celebrating the fact that I’m on this amazingly beautiful, frustrating, exhilarating, heart-wrenching, heart-warming, stumbling, growing journey and I still wake up every morning to a new day and new beginnings.
Now that’s something worth celebrating all month! I decide what would make the month extra special and then make a concerted effort to pay attention to those things. Because let’s face it, in the day-to-day, it can be easy to put ourselves to the side. Easy to be consumed by other demands and forget our own self-care, blessings, or what’s most important. I use my birthday month as a time to check-in and reconnect to all of that again. It may include a hike to my favorite swimming hole, time with a good book, extra outings with friends, more phone calls home, treating myself to a massage (or all the chocolate!), etc.
One thing I prioritize is time to reflect on the past year and its lessons. I also intend to realign with dreams for the new year ahead, but I admit I don’t always dive as far into that as I plan. This year, however, I’m going to approach it differently and jump straight into dreaming! After being locked down all this while, I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on the past – and I’m thankful for that. While this pandemic brought a lot of hardships, uncertainty, and isolation, I had an incredible opportunity to contemplate my passions, skills, and experience and begin my own business as a result. For what may be the first time in my life, I know I’m exactly where I’m meant to be and I’m immensely grateful I can say that.
So for this birthday month my focus will be squarely on the future – my personal and professional dreams and goals – and my gratitude for them. I believe that life truly works out for you, even – maybe especially – when it doesn’t seem like it. Most times we just need to let go and trust. That’s what 2020 taught me, even before the pandemic hit.
Some invitations!
So without further ado, I’d like to extend some invitations for you to join me this month!
- Join me in spending 30 minutes a day dreaming about the future and practicing gratitude for its fulfillment. Gratitude fortifies us in all stages of our journey – we can remember how the past has served us and how the future will too. There are great things ahead, so let’s send positive intentions and thankfulness out there in expectation.
- Many of my future dreams and aspirations involve travel, of course (not only to facilitate my own, but yours as well!). I think we’re especially aware of how precious our time and connections with others really are. You never know when you might get locked down in a pandemic, so don’t wait to plan and take those dream trips. I admit I’ve rarely outlined my travel bucket list (mostly because I’ll go anywhere and everywhere!), but I want to get intentional about it this month with this very cool resource: Wanderlist. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should! Think of it as a vision board for your travel dreams, which you can share with friends and family (and your travel advisor) to help manifest those future trips. There are pre-loaded experiences, but you can also add anything you’ve found online. It’s free with no strings attached and a bunch of new features will be added to it this summer. This is a resource that is here to stay – and here to help you realize your dreams of seeing the world! When you put intention behind them, they can happen!
I hope you’ll join in with me this month on both of the above and if you do, I’d love to hear about it! Let’s celebrate together and believe in – and plan for – all the good things (and trips) on the horizon!
Cheers,
Julia, the soon-to-be Birthday Girl 🙂
Here’s a brief summary of Wanderlist features (powered by Virtuoso). You can start creating your own lists here. OR if you’re ready to get something on the calendar, contact me – I’d be delighted to help!
