Once upon time, my friend was in the homestretch of his twenties. He used to describe himself throughout these years as "abstractly approaching 30". At the time, I was freshly 21 and brushed off the concept of feeling old while you're still in your twenties. There came a day when I hit that hidden threshold and found snapshots in time where I just feel plain old. Now that I'm 28, I'm also adopting the terminology. As of this first day of spring in 2012, I'm abstractly approaching 30.
Although my standard is one photo a day, I felt the need to make today a condensed, visual journey of how an unemployed urban dweller spends their birthday in unseasonably warm weather. Is it anything mindblowing? Not at all. I would say, hands down, that it was the most relaxing and enjoyable birthday I remember having...probably ever.
My morning started with reading in bed, followed by a self-made french toast breakfast. A shout-out to Starbucks for providing me with a free iced mocha to enjoy while I walked to DSW, where I bought myself a small birthday present of new summer sandals (and thanks to a coupon, a free package of athletic socks). Then I spent three hours soaking up the sun at the lake, alternating between reading, napping and people watching. Usually I wear a winter jacket on my birthday, or carry an umbrella in best case scenarios; today I wore my swimsuit. The icing on the cake (pun intended) was a ringing in 28 in company of the people that Chicago has made near and dear to me.
Over the years, I have spent a lot of effort not allowing myself to attribute meaning to birthdays. There were too many of them that underwhelmed expectations. I can honestly say that the past two years, in all of their simplicity, have chipped away at my skepticism. There are good people surrounding me and I've realized that my birthday only highlights that, helping me remember to be thankful. So, the 28th birthday is in the books and for the first time in a long time, I feel like I'm heading into a new year with optimism and anticipation.
Post a Comment