The soul always desires that which will most reveal it's true nature.
-Danielle LaPorte
October 11th is my 40th birthday. The following day is Thanksgiving. Last month was my tenth wedding anniversary. In September I start a new job, an opportunity that matches up almost perfectly with a desires list that I brainstormed less than a year ago but I have been dreaming up for years. I am a dreamer, always have been and always will be. It works for me.
Clarity creates simplicity.
As you know, I am also planner. Planner + dreamer = amazing opportunities. Over the years my dreams have gotten bigger, but as I have become more patient with them, they are also much clearer. As amazing Danielle says yet again (she must be my new guru), clarity creates simplicity. I believe the universe, like Santa Claus, finds it easier to deliver when it knows precise details. Does it always deliver exactly as I have dreamed, in the same manner and timing I desire? Not usually, but as Mama Gena likes to say in response to a desire, "So shall it be or something even better." Often it is something better. Like that girls' weekend in Seattle that was surreal it was so fun. Or my amazing trip to New Orleans for Sophia's wedding that was adventure upon adventure. Or on an even larger scale, bringing my boys into the world. Now that was a journey into some tough places that I never would have chosen to go, but on the other end of it I have the two most amazing boys I could ever dream of. They are my 'something even better' a hundred-fold.
So where am I going with this post? TO A PARTY, OF COURSE!
What is better than my birthday and Thanksgiving on the same weekend? Celebrating en masse with my friends and family! Okay, for real, this is nothing I have planned out or discussed with my husband yet. (Note: Although when we briefly discussed where we were having Thanksgiving dinner this year, as we share years between our two families, and I mentioned that it was also my birthday weekend, he did say that something to the effect of me getting to choose what we did that weekend.) Thanks, love!
So here is the dream...
Imagine a beautiful, sunny, warm October day turning into a crisp but comfortable evening. Perhaps a light breeze. (Hey, if I'm going to dream, I might as well ask for the perfect weather too!) All my friends and family amazingly have their family Thanksgiving celebrations on a different day so they are free to attend. (Again, a girl can dream.) We are in a backyard garden that is big enough to hold us and our playing children, but is still intimate. There is one long table that I have had help decorating to look beautiful. Definitely there are candles for the evening and fresh cut flowers. The turkey is cooked by my dearest husband and everyone has brought a side dish, appetizer or dessert to share. Perhaps drinks are in the Canooler (canoe + ice = cooler, reminiscent of our wedding). A few of my old students, Sarah and Savannah, are around to look after the younger kids when needed. The adults are hanging out, having a drink, and simply having a good, relaxed time. The meal is delicious, gratitudes are shared and bellies are full.
As it turns to evening, a movie is turned on for the kiddies, they are given a snack and the adults continue to relax with cold drinks or hot tea and coffee, and my tiramisu birthday cake is brought out for all to enjoy under the string of lights weaving back and forth across the back yard.
Over the course of the day, we have all been writing our desires and gratitudes on little slips of paper and putting them in a glass bowl in a simple ritual to honour ourselves and the birthday girl's love of such things.
So what now?
I would love for this all to happen with ease. I will take all help, advice, input, offerings of resources and know-how, and of course someone to plan the event itself. <wink>
In all seriousness, some of the logistics of this seem a bit sketchy, but who I am to say it isn't possible?! Our back yard perhaps isn't big enough, or perhaps it is. It may rain (we are in Vancouver, after all), so need a plan for that too... a beautiful room with glass windows looking out onto nature sounds great although I don't want this to become an expensive event in the least.
Anyhow, I will finish as I started, with a quote from Danielle LaPorte that I am going to make about my loved ones an my Feast of Gratitude and Celebration:
You are important.
You are incredible.
You are loved.
Your presence is needed here.
(in the world, but also at my feast) ;)
