Another year comes knocking on my door and before I know it, I have crossed over from the last year of my teen hood into the sultry life of being a young adult. Interesting notions begin penetrating my mind frame. Are there any changes that might occur in this transition? I should act more maturedly from now on as I will be expected quite a lot in terms of responsibility from now on. Such thought comes flooding through my mind and the responsibilities of growing up came shadowing through so fast that I lost track of the beauty of a birthday as it is.
Why do people celebrate birthdays in the first place? If we were reincarnated or as I tend to believe thrown down from the gates of eternal bliss into a world brimming with turmoil, loss and frustration, should such a sorrowful day even be celebrated? Sounds a little weird doesn’t it? Well, do pardon my morbidity at this point. Just that practicality, or rather how I view practicality tends to draw on from the questions of darkness. Well, coming back to the issue at hand.
My birthday was not an extravagant affair. In fact, it was no affair at all. I spent the whole day on a well-planned routine on how my average day would run like. Though to some it may sound depressing, I found that it wasn’t so to me. Birthdays aren’t always filled with streamers, balloons and a plump juicy chocolate cake with its glaze gleaming in the dim beam of a candle light that brings out the sparkle in everyone’s spirit (with that description, I do find it rather tempting to have it though). I grew a year older but what I saw that day was the moderation of how life is lived. The birthday was not undermined in fact I found that it was glorified by the simple wishes of my friends and family and these simple wishes that came from the bottom of their hearts meant the world to me compared to a big lavish party that most people would like to have. Don’t have me mistaken for someone who is introverted for I most certainly am not. Inexplicably, I found that I was calm and the day was filled with the simple pleasures of warm hugs and sweet smiles all around. The kind dulcet tones in my parents voice was particularly apparent today and I cherished the look of love in their eyes that spoke a million words.
The "party" or the happening part of the excitement was the jubilation was seen when my friends came bursting with joy and wishes. Their excitement exceeding my own, having thump my back with a cheerful wish and grins stretching from ear to ear. Although in no way did this particular day affect them in any manner but they found it in them to enjoy this day with all the enthusiasm all in the means of ensuring that I have the best birthday ever. Although some had gifts and others didnt, I didn’t look at the gifts at all, it was the mere act of them competing with each other, trying to be the first to wish me or trying to be the last person I receive a wish from before this beautifully fateful day comes to an end. Their joy was the party and the "livewires" of which electrified my day, or so to speak.
Gifts. No birthday is complete without gifts. Some came with small gifts, others came with extraordinary ones and facts be facts, most came with none. But these little material treasures were not what my heart received as the trophies of the day. The little whispers of "Happy Birthdays!", the over-flowing pile of messages from even I might add complete strangers (which I might add yet again that I have no idea how they got my number in the first place) and the calls made in the wee hours of the morning to wish me a good year around. What I see in this is the beautiful effort taken into keeping awake to actually wish me at the break of dawn. A gesture that till now brings tears to my eyes. These are the simple jewels that remain the shining gems of gifts that I had been blessed with on my birthday, not the trinkets, or the artfully presented, magnificent gifts. Though these are also welcome and appreciated as they too needed some form of effort in attaining and assembling.
So as you can see, my birthday was much more beautiful than a million dollar party. The day itself was a celebration in entirety to me. Being around my loved ones, with friends and family all finding the simplest yet most beautiful ways of showing their love and affection and making tiny yet considerably memorable attempts at livening up my day and keeping my best interests at heart. What more could I ask for? Many people mistakenly interpreted an absence of a birthday bash as me being a shy introverted type or that I was rather unappreciative of such a beautiful event. Some even dove to extreme ends by telling me that they thought I simply did not know how to live life as I was rigid and mechanical and did not know how to have fun. For those who know me well enough, they will clearly dispute this fact with sheer conviction. Well, I can understand the misconception but most people don’t see things in the same light as I do. To them a night-long party is the way into opening into a new year as it should be done with a blast and loads of fun. Some believe that how we celebrate the first day will reflect throughout the year and some believe that it is just another means of celebrating an occasion. For both reasons I chose to lead my day like every other day with these simple presence was because if every other normal day were to be embraced with the same love that I received and held close to heart that everyday would be a blessing from heaven to me. And if my birthday was to act like an "opening ceremony" to my whole year, I couldn’t have wanted it any differently as I found these simple, sincere and truthful gestures to be the best gifts I could have received compared to the wishes from invitees who were pre-informed of a bash and only knew it was my birthday as there was something in it for them. The way I chose brought me closer to the people that deserve a place in my heart and well simply saying, I chose sensitivity and tranquility over extravagance and uproar. That is what makes a birthday beautiful, the magic in how we perceive it and to me that magic revolves around this simple yet beautifully graceful presence of love and loved lives.
Why do people celebrate birthdays in the first place? If we were reincarnated or as I tend to believe thrown down from the gates of eternal bliss into a world brimming with turmoil, loss and frustration, should such a sorrowful day even be celebrated? Sounds a little weird doesn’t it? Well, do pardon my morbidity at this point. Just that practicality, or rather how I view practicality tends to draw on from the questions of darkness. Well, coming back to the issue at hand.
My birthday was not an extravagant affair. In fact, it was no affair at all. I spent the whole day on a well-planned routine on how my average day would run like. Though to some it may sound depressing, I found that it wasn’t so to me. Birthdays aren’t always filled with streamers, balloons and a plump juicy chocolate cake with its glaze gleaming in the dim beam of a candle light that brings out the sparkle in everyone’s spirit (with that description, I do find it rather tempting to have it though). I grew a year older but what I saw that day was the moderation of how life is lived. The birthday was not undermined in fact I found that it was glorified by the simple wishes of my friends and family and these simple wishes that came from the bottom of their hearts meant the world to me compared to a big lavish party that most people would like to have. Don’t have me mistaken for someone who is introverted for I most certainly am not. Inexplicably, I found that I was calm and the day was filled with the simple pleasures of warm hugs and sweet smiles all around. The kind dulcet tones in my parents voice was particularly apparent today and I cherished the look of love in their eyes that spoke a million words.
The "party" or the happening part of the excitement was the jubilation was seen when my friends came bursting with joy and wishes. Their excitement exceeding my own, having thump my back with a cheerful wish and grins stretching from ear to ear. Although in no way did this particular day affect them in any manner but they found it in them to enjoy this day with all the enthusiasm all in the means of ensuring that I have the best birthday ever. Although some had gifts and others didnt, I didn’t look at the gifts at all, it was the mere act of them competing with each other, trying to be the first to wish me or trying to be the last person I receive a wish from before this beautifully fateful day comes to an end. Their joy was the party and the "livewires" of which electrified my day, or so to speak.
Gifts. No birthday is complete without gifts. Some came with small gifts, others came with extraordinary ones and facts be facts, most came with none. But these little material treasures were not what my heart received as the trophies of the day. The little whispers of "Happy Birthdays!", the over-flowing pile of messages from even I might add complete strangers (which I might add yet again that I have no idea how they got my number in the first place) and the calls made in the wee hours of the morning to wish me a good year around. What I see in this is the beautiful effort taken into keeping awake to actually wish me at the break of dawn. A gesture that till now brings tears to my eyes. These are the simple jewels that remain the shining gems of gifts that I had been blessed with on my birthday, not the trinkets, or the artfully presented, magnificent gifts. Though these are also welcome and appreciated as they too needed some form of effort in attaining and assembling.
So as you can see, my birthday was much more beautiful than a million dollar party. The day itself was a celebration in entirety to me. Being around my loved ones, with friends and family all finding the simplest yet most beautiful ways of showing their love and affection and making tiny yet considerably memorable attempts at livening up my day and keeping my best interests at heart. What more could I ask for? Many people mistakenly interpreted an absence of a birthday bash as me being a shy introverted type or that I was rather unappreciative of such a beautiful event. Some even dove to extreme ends by telling me that they thought I simply did not know how to live life as I was rigid and mechanical and did not know how to have fun. For those who know me well enough, they will clearly dispute this fact with sheer conviction. Well, I can understand the misconception but most people don’t see things in the same light as I do. To them a night-long party is the way into opening into a new year as it should be done with a blast and loads of fun. Some believe that how we celebrate the first day will reflect throughout the year and some believe that it is just another means of celebrating an occasion. For both reasons I chose to lead my day like every other day with these simple presence was because if every other normal day were to be embraced with the same love that I received and held close to heart that everyday would be a blessing from heaven to me. And if my birthday was to act like an "opening ceremony" to my whole year, I couldn’t have wanted it any differently as I found these simple, sincere and truthful gestures to be the best gifts I could have received compared to the wishes from invitees who were pre-informed of a bash and only knew it was my birthday as there was something in it for them. The way I chose brought me closer to the people that deserve a place in my heart and well simply saying, I chose sensitivity and tranquility over extravagance and uproar. That is what makes a birthday beautiful, the magic in how we perceive it and to me that magic revolves around this simple yet beautifully graceful presence of love and loved lives.
