In my family, when it's your birthday, you are empowered to make more choices than usual.  The birthday girl (or boy) gets to select their favorite breakfast, lunch and dinner.  They decide if presents get opened in the morning or evening and get to request a special activity that they love.  The whole family supports their choices as a celebration of who they are.

During my birthday last week, I noticed how many choices I allowed myself because it was my special day that no one was preventing me from making every other day. 

My daughters are growing up in a home with altars. They watch me meditating, journaling, and doing other practices near little tables with intentional groups of objects. They know I’m calmer after I practice. They ask me questions about what I’m doing and have started to experiment with their own spaces.

Yesterday, I took my daughter to an event at her elementary school where we could drop off supplies and spend time with other families.  In two days, she will start second grade and my family will transition from the rhythm of summer camp and travel back to 5:30 am alarms and remembering that it’s Wear Clothes From Your Favorite Sports Team Day, 5 minutes before we leave the house.

I love these kinds of occasions.  The first day of school.  New Years.  Birthdays.  Anniversaries.  These moments remind me to pause and reflect on what has changed over the course of a year.  What traditions do I want to maintain?  How have the four of us grown?  How can we make our routine easier? 

It was still dark outside and my kids were asleep.  Time for another international video call with my peers on the leadership team.  I put on a sweatshirt and tied my hair back but left my pajama pants on.  No one would see them under the dining room table where I sat.  Shower and makeup could happen later.  As people signed on, I noticed the pile of bows and ribbons on the table from the previous night’s birthday celebration and chided myself for not being a better housekeeper.  And then, because it felt playfully authentic, I stuck one of the bows on my head and waited for my colleagues to notice.