Today is my
birthday. I'm
one of those people that always look forward to their birthdays, and I like it to be something of a
special, "
big deal" type of thing. It's presently about 1:30 a.m., but on the real night of my birthday (in about 15 hours) I get to have a party. For now, I've been looking forward to doing this
day log, so here goes.
Birthdays are a neat opportunity. Sure, there's the instant gratitude of having a party and getting presents, which is cool enough in itself. In the past few years, I've become more thoughtful and deep, and thus look further into rituals like holidays. I've kinda been prompted by non-celebrating Jehovah's Witness friends to think about why I celebrate my birthday. It's a milestone. I like to sit back and reflect on the past year, and what I expect in the year to come. I do this moreso on my birthday than New Year's Eve. I thank my mom for giving birth to me, and I thank God for "giving" me another year.
It's my golden birthday this year, meaning that I'm turning 17 on the 17th. When I was younger, I read some obscure fiction book that mentioned the idea of a golden birthday, and I clung to it. 17 has always been my lucky and favorite number. I can recall thinking about how far off being 17 seemed, trying to imagine what I'd be like, and how cool it was that my golden birthday was in the year 2000 (that year just sounded so cool). My childish innocence, and reaching this point that had seemed so far off, and being able to see R-rated movies legally now (lol) all make me feel old. Sure, I know that I'm still quite young and have many years ahead of me, but that feeling is still there.
I can't wait to see what happens in the next year. This is a hectic, stressful, changing, yet very wonderful time in my life. The whole idea of "potential" is exciting. Good relationships with family, friends, and a SO help the hours, days, months, and years pass.