All About (Birthday) Eve...

I can’t actually say there’s been any duplicity involved on this, the eve of my actual birthday. Nor has there been much of anything remarkable on which to remark.

Still.

My own inherent sense of impending occasion made this day seem just slightly more extraordinary than all the rest of the year - excluding Christmas, which for reasons that may seem obvious but are not, is celebrated in much the same way.

Now, don’t get me wrong.

I’m not for one minute suggesting that my humble birth has even the slightest connection to that of the Baby Jesus, or even rivals it in any way (what, with my not being a saviour and all), but in my own mind, the sense of occasion that fills me during this period of time is pretty much equal to that great joy I feel when Christmas arrives - without the tree.

I know.

It’s completely strange.

I’m one of those people who think that I could just as easily celebrate Saturnalia instead of X-mas and still have the same feeling (and yes, it’s okay to use the ‘X’ for Christmas - look it up!) as I do on my own birthday.

Let’s face it - it’s all about the ‘sense of occasion’; it's what one brings to it that makes it special.

I have decided that my birthday is ‘special’ - even if briefly - and only for/by me.

We have so few things in our lives that we think worthy of allowing ourselves to celebrate, that a birthday is the perfect time to rejoice in ourselves and all that we, as mere flesh and bone, are capable of.

I mean, my God! We are extraordinary creatures!

Acknowledging that once a year is not exactly being extravagant.

And so.

Each year, during the ‘week’ of my birth, I allow myself the ‘extravagance’ of thinking about me and delighting in the ‘me’ that has managed to live so long; to celebrate each of the Celebratory Week’s days and to reflect and be thankful for all that I have, all those who have assisted me in one way or another, and all whom I love and love me in return.

Being an agnostic has made it easier for me to insert my own sense of spirituality into the week of my birth and to surround it with a certain amount of sanctity and ritual.

After all - if we cannot appreciate the birth of the lowliest, such as myself, how on earth are we supposed to celebrate that of the possible quadrillion and one birth of a messiah, I ask you!?

(Okay - this needs rewriting - but hey! - that’s not what this blog is about, OKAY!? We’re just ‘throwing stuff out there’ - and hoping for an idea or two.

And besides - I can write what I want (crushingly bad grammar, syntax, etc., uncorrected) - it’s my birthday tomorrow.

P.S. Call me Zeus...