and the birthday quiets down....

and so the birthday celebrating is winding down....
and i always laugh because part of me is okay with that.
i guess i can only take so much of a good thing.
but it's been wonderful.

i watched a lot as i went along.
i was part of many different interactions.

some cherished souls really shone thru this
and reminded me of how i wanted to be for them and for everyone i love.

fully festively present.

i want to give people i love the gift of being fully festively present.
and the gift of seeing them thru that.
i guess if you're fully present, you would naturally see the other person.
i want to celebrate the love that i have for the person.
i want to celebrate the person.

of course, then it gets tricky.
not everyone wants to be fully celebrated.
altho...that's hard to believe, isn't it?
i think maybe some people just feel fully celebrated in different ways.
and that needs to be part of it all.
offering it the way they need.

so, yeah, it's never a straight simple recipe.
but however it comes out, i can see what a gift it is to offer someone.
i was blessed with how many times i got this gift,
how many times i felt seen.
and when i felt like someone went the extra mile for me.
that meant the world to me.

i want to remember that and offer it back.
on birthdays for sure.........and more often thru out the year.
what a gift to give - the gift of celebrating each other!

and! i remembered to give it to myself as well.
i think i did that this year better than ever.
it's good to see some growth happening between birthdays.
the kind that isn't counted in calories!