Today I mark my 39th birthday. My mood is ambivalent. I feel as if a strange sadness is setting in. This is partly because it will be the last year I can say I am a “thirty something.” It is the passage of time that wreaks havoc on my senses and gut. And this past year, I’ve internalized and reflected on time and its tricks and how I don’t always understand its power. Time alternated as a threat and a beacon of healing.
As I grow older, there is a maxim I am learning to accept. That each day is filled with the grandeur of the pendulum. We are all experiencing various emotions, ranging from happiness, anger, sadness, and peace. When and where and how that pendulum will swing is something that will always remain mystery. The certainty lies in how we carve our reactions.
Onward I say. The choice is mine and yours.
Welcome! I am a lawyer turned freelance writer, essayist, and editor. On staff at Literary Mama and the co-founder and co-editor of the literary journal, The Sunlight Press, my essays and reported work have appeared in The Washington Post, The Lily, Saveur, Civil Eats, Brain, Child, ESPN and elsewhere. I am currently at work on a memoir on grief and culture and how it provides perspective on life’s ordinary graces. I invite you to appreciate the ordinary with me. I hope my daily practice of seeing the magic in the mundane helps you celebrate and find more of these moments in your life too.
Happy Birthday, Rudri!
Happy Birthday! Thinking fond thoughts!
Wishing you the best year yet!
Happy birthday, Rudri!
Happy Birthday, Rudri, my dear writer friend!
Every birthday is a reminder of the blessings we share and the love we enjoy .
I hope you have a fabulous day and devour a BIG piece of that chocolate cake!
Love,
Trish
I am feeling that more than ever these days, and your wisdom (to control our reactions when we can’t control what happens) is much needed for me now.
Have a wonderful birthday! I turned 40 a few years ago, so remember how you are feeling right now, on this one-year eve of the next decade. Oddly, once I got on the other side of 40, I felt a bit “young” again in that I saw myself starting out or all over again. I hope you will get to that point too.
Happy birthday! Onward
!!!
I hope your birthday was amazing! Many many more 🙂
Happy Birthday Rudri! Sorry to be a couple of days late…
Hopefully, with every year, we gain a little wisdom, so we can better deal with the swinging pendulum.
When I turned 39, I seemed to have lost track of time, so I thought I was turning 38 – until I did the math. It was a bit of a shock to learn I was a year older than I thought I was. 🙂
Happy Belated Rudri! I hope you enjoy your last year in your 30’s! 🙂