This morning, I was in the forest solo dancing and chanting “oomph and power, oomph and power, oomph and power. . .” when a mountain biker caught me off guard and looked genuinely perplexed. I let out the loudest chuckle as I could realize by her energy and face that she thought I was quite strange. But what is strange really? Aren’t we all a bit strange somehow?
In living on the outskirts of society and being someone who grew up labeled as weird, unusual, a nerd, you name it, I am leaning into these titles as a badge of honor because the older I become, the more I realize that there are actually more people who are collectively strange, neurodivergent, and unusual than quote on quote “normies.” We have a way of finding each other after we survive the trenches and inferno of high school, suffer a bit more in our twenty’s, and finally amidst our dirty thirties* reconnect with those labels actually being just fine.
Maybe, just maybe we can lean into these extra efforts to add extra ways to identify ourselves as a means to say to society~or rather a scream to society saying “I am different.” Maybe even possibly, I am special. As we enter a season very special to me, my birthday season, I commit to showing up wholeheartedly as myself, loving myself fully, and genuinely leaning into the power of no to be able to commit to my deep yesses that ignite my heart on fire.
Here are 35 ish things I am loving for my 35th year around the sun:
~The particularly picky deer that visit my garden and now have decided they love my (our) calendula, swiss chard, and fava beans.
~Opportunities to show up and share my passions with like minded and different folks
~Easily finding and settling into community in my new hometown of Humboldt
~Water
~The bird songs in the community forest
~The morning fog
~An iced london fog
~Summertime arriving
~Dancing
~My friends
~My hunny
~My super amazing awesome and intelligent kiddo
~All the 9,857 things to do in town that are super incredible and have reignited the concept of FOMO in my life
~Sleep
~Good books
~Surrounding the bath with plants and candles and creating a mystical faerie world
~My songs
~Learning new things
~Making new connections
~Sort of getting my home together (in a muy haphazard Gemini way)
~Learning to ask for help when I need it
~Sleep
~Stretching slowly in nature
~Thinking of camping
~Lemon bars
~Balloons
~Stepping into my power and owning my gifts
~Jupiter in Gemini
~Dreaming of living abroad
~Finding a friend who actually wants to support me in practicing my German
~Making dishes that I used to prepare when I used to eat meat, but I stopped, and now I eat it again so I get to enjoy making these dishes again
~Leaving my phone off
~An empty calendar day with no obligations
~Showing up and doing my best in my work
~Writing short stories
~Pretend eating
~Bisous!
~Sex, makin’ whoopee, however you identify it, it is awesome
~The sound of the rain
~Long walks in the rain
~The veil lifting after a long winter of depression
~Sunshine
~Altocumulus clouds mixed with cirrocumulus clouds
~Beautiful sunsets
~Love
The list is apparently much larger than 35, but who cares. It seems I am on a roll today.
In other news, my landlord is an asshole, I am loving preparing Mexican food as of late, and my banana bread recipe has gotten even better by adding even more banana.
What are you looking forward to in this season of abundance?
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Written under a Gemini sun and moon feeling happy!
Listening to:
The Philharmonik
We did a show together a few years back and I was blown away. He won this years Tiny Desk Contest and has a phenomenal sound and musicianship. My dad would have loved him too.
Some favorite operas and jazz jazz, JAZZ
Find me frolicking in the forest::
One of my idols, Anna Halprin::
Happy new moon in Gemini bb’s!
p.s. *for me it’s more of a nerdy thirty
Happy birthday! And, also, this list fills me with delight + energy. I'm so glad you shared it!