I have a tradition of capturing the exact instance when the clock passes midnight and crosses over to my birthday. Something about it feels magical (if you haven’t experienced it give it a go!). Yesterday I decided to have this moment at an open field surrounded by trees without street lights or noise disturbances. I go there often for peace and silence, but luckily for me I got a clear night sky too. As I turned around to head back home I saw a shooting star. Talk about an excellent start of my personal new year! I also can’t help but interpret it as a present from the universe and (hopefully) a good sign for what’s to come.. 

Although birthdays are usually hyped as a day of celebration with cake, exhilarating plans and making wishes (which is all great) I’d say there is a deeper meaning to birthdays and definitely more to gain from them. I believe mourning on our birthdays should be equally as emphasized as celebration. By mourning I’m not necessarily referring to agonizing pain and crying our hearts out.  What I mean is having our own best interest at heart and daring to release what we deep down know does not benefit us or our growth although it might be painful or sad (be it people, a habit, situation, belief etc). Part of the mourning process is also glancing back, reminiscing, honoring and expressing gratitude towards that which we release and acknowledging it as part of our journey and evolution. 

Celebrating and mourning our solar return might seem contradictory but that’s exactly what birthdays reflet to us, placing us at the centre of what appears to be opposing sides. It’s a reminder of the day we were born (isn’t that a crazy thought in itself?) yet a mega reminder of the clock ticking and our movement towards the inevitable. It’s a cycle closing and a new one beginning. It’s an ordinary day yet it isn’t. Hopefully you’ll also notice how you’re aging while feeling younger ( great sign of being on the right track in life btw).  

I have a sense there’s a connection between the sort of ambivalent energy our birthday brings and transformation. Every anniversary we reach a zero point, opening up for in depth change. All we need to do is celebrate and uplift ourselves while mourning and releasing. Letting go in combination with the positive vibes of celebration creates space for the new to enter our lives so we can evolve further. Obviously it’s possible to achieve the same result any other day but our birthdays give us extra leverage. Let’s call it a gift from the universe 🙂