It’s my birthday today

I’m celebrating my 35th birthday today.

I’m the type, for some reason, to hate birthday parties. Instead, I love to spend my birthday in reflection – outdoors if possible, and with several little treats throughout the day.

In light of that, here are 35 lessons I’ve learned in my life…

Just kidding, friend.

The one lesson I keep coming back to is to be more selective about how much I consume.

How many “5 ways to improve your life” lists I should subject myself to on Instagram. How many TBR lists I should bother to scavenge, when my own TBR list continues to grow. All of it is meant to bring purpose and fulfillment, but somewhere in the piles of information, it gets lost. And somehow, it makes me feel emptier.

Instead, this year I’m hoping to practice the art of noticing. In those in-between moments – waiting at the dentist, standing in line at the grocery store – can I tune into my surroundings instead of staring at my phone? Can I pay attention to the streets I walk every day like they might have something new to show me?

I’ve already started wondering about the names of birds in my area, and somehow managed to miss the large stuffed animals peeking out of a neighbour’s barn until last week. (For real.)

It’s funny because noticing is basically what we spend our whole careers trying to teach. Pay attention to the word choice. Pay attention to what the author didn’t say. Look closer. There’s always something there if you’re willing to slow down enough to find it. I’m just trying to get better at applying that in real life, too.

Anyway. Happy birthday to me! I’m going to go touch some grass now.