Celebrating another year around the sun 🌞🎊

With all I share I want it be from a place of rawness, authenticity, vulnerability, strength & truth. Birthdays have always been a time of deep reflection for me. As a kid I never wanted to grow up & birthdays were both a time of celebration but also a time of fear. I remember thinking as a kid I didn’t want to grow older because with age comes change & loss. I tell you Mufasa & Littlefoot’s mom did a number on me lol. But in all seriousness every birthday I have needed time with myself to both celebrate, grieve, look forward & be here Now.

Within my spirituality, impacted by Buddhist philosophy, I loved the concept of seeing reincarnation as a continuous cycle within our own lifetime. I see myself dying & being reborn within each breath & moment. I am never the same me as I was in any given time. I am constantly evolving, growing, expanding, & transforming. Why I love the symbolism of the phoenix so much. I feel we are all experiencing a constant shift of Self. Looking back on a full year of life & then life since birth, that’s a lot of past Selves & lives to hold tenderly, to forgive, to mourn, to encourage, to celebrate, to give a high five to - better yet a bear hug. To love, for all the good times & hard times. To give space, letting go of shame & events in our lives that we regret but have learned from. Creating that space for all that is to be & come. It’s a hell of a journey right? At the beginning & end of each day I acknowledge my fears, do my best to accept what I thought I could not live through & be proud of my resilience. As for societal pressures surrounding aging, fuck them. I am filled with so much gratitude to have the chance to evolve, expand, shift & transform.

Thank you to my family, friends & community for giving me the greatest gift of accepting, loving & encouraging my true Self. Thank you for making me feel safe enough where I can be vulnerable. To share my life whole heartedly & to create without fear of judgement. Thank you to each & every one of you who gives me that, especially to my parents, who have given me this gift every moment of my life. I love you all so much!!
@everyoneshike @taymunholland @dirtbaggypsies @rrawimpact @lofihikingsociety
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