Everyone has a birthday!
Each person celebrates it very differently though. Some go all-out or celebrate more intimately with friends?
Some take the day off for quiet reflection and some persons ignore the day totally, wanting to forget their age. Still others try not to make a big deal of the day for one reason or another. I fall in the group of persons not having a ‘typical’ birthday, and 2020 was one year that proved that.
How do you typically celebrate your birthday?
As it turns out, 2022 July SitAWhile is the day after my birthday.
The thing with this is the time of the year is that you blink 5 times, and then it’s bang in the Christmas season, and then you wonder where the time went.
The COVID situation and you
Though we’ve turned a corner globally, there is evidence in some countries that COVID cases are on the rise. Thankfully for the health care systems and individuals alike, it seems there is less severity and hospitalizations.
We don’t know what the future holds regarding COVID, or the next thing, yet what I know is that there are some blessings from the pandemic years that you may have witnessed.
I’d like to share something that’s been burning in my heart…
I wonder:
- I wonder what would emerge if we looked back to the pandemic years and recalled the things that we were truly grateful for, and even go further to ask ourselves why those things mattered
- I wonder if we are missing an opportunity to know a little bit more about ourselves through those thoughts
- I wonder if those reflections could help us appreciate more deeply, God’s desire to spend time with us and for us to know Him more
- I wonder if we remember how important self-care has been, taking care of our bodies, our minds and our spirits
- I wonder if we have forgotten the new opportunities that became evident throughout the pandemic
- I wonder if there were some good practices that were becoming habits, yet we got distracted by ‘life in the new normal’
- I wonder what would happen if we gave ear to those dreams that started to burn in our hearts…
- I wonder if we’ve dismissed new dreams, convincing ourselves that we didn’t have the time nor the resources to bring them to pass… and what would happen if we paid attention to the beckoning
- I wonder who has recently called to mind the deeply meaningful times with family and friends, and if we planned to recreate those moments
- I wonder what stories we are leaving behind from this unique period in time, the stories that those born in 2020 and beyond will read
- I wonder if the footprint we’re leaving behind is one made in sand, or wet cement.
Yes, I do wonder about these things.
YET I AM GOING TO THE OTHER SIDE OF WONDER
I am on a mission!
- I am on a mission to help those who dare to embrace the other side of wonder, who push aside the temptation to keep busy in the new normal.
- I am on a mission to help us document those ‘COVID blessings’ before we rush on with life… the tangible blessings that we need to capture and pass on. Your story should not go unnoticed because no ‘COVID blessing’ is too small.
- I am on a mission to help us leave a life story behind for our children, and their children – one that captures what YOU have noticed during this unique moment in history.
So this birthday will be different. And I would like YOU to be a part of it.
Yes?
Yes, this birthday is different because it is the kick-off of COVID-Blessings SitAWhile – a space to turn your COVID reflections into words and art.
Join right here
With screen prompts and gentle piano music in the background and sitting with me and others doing the same thing, you will push through the other side of wonder and surprise yourself with what comes out of this time. It will be:
- Brief hello and welcome
- 50min writing or art-ing
- 10min sharing (optional)
I will request a small contribution because it will help your commitment while contributing to keeping the mission of SitAWhile alive.
And what happens afterwards?
Well that depends. That depends on you really. This is for you first, and the words and art that emerge are for you to capture and tell your story.
For those who are willing to share and make your story more public, I will be collating stories to publish at a later time, either anonymously or acknowledged as you wish.
We get to decide what’s next together.
The most important thing is for you to pause, to reflect and capture those ‘COVID Blessings’ and experience the benefit of this unique journey.
Why celebrate a birthday like this?
I know, it’s an unusual way to celebrate one’s birthday, yet hasn’t the pandemic shown us that life is not usual? We have to choose things that matter.
I couldn’t bear keeping this inside though.
Every month I tell the SitAWhilers “Share your gifts with the world, don’t hold back”. I am doing that!
The delight I get from helping people to pause, is becoming a signal of where my mission in life is. I’m learning how to live my mission wherever I am and through different expressions!
It would be a privilege to have you share my birthday in this way and I thank you so much for being on my journey.
And please, tell me below. How do you typically spend your birthday?