Celebrating Twenty-Eight

Awhile ago I was flipping through the archives of the blog I'd kept in China and stumbled upon an entry that I'd written to myself on one of my birthdays, listing out as many things I loved about myself as years I'd spent on this planet. If I remember correctly, I was probably in a blue mood when I wrote that post (as I am apt to be on my birthday), and the little "me celebration" was an attempt to cheer myself up. Self help-y as that sounds, it totally worked. So I thought, why does one need to wait for their birthday to celebration themselves? We all occupy an interior universe centered around ourselves anyways, and there's a lot in it that's pretty darn amazing.

Celebration of Myself: 28 Things (I Love) at Twenty-Eight (and a half)


*I love that you love running outdoors.
*I love that water is your favorite drink.
*I love that you wear so much orange.
*I love that, in response to the realization that you have a hard time letting go of the need to attain a certain "status" or "prestige," you bought yourself a self help book on bragging.
*I love your propensity to laugh at yourself, even in trying times.
*I love that you have friends from different walks of life.
*I love that you give yourself permission to lie in bed all weekend, if that's what you need ... and to do it multiple weekends over, if that's what you need.
*I love that you sometimes bring a roasted sweet potato, leftover roasted asparagus, almonds, and an orange for lunch.
*I love that you think that biking to Lake Merritt is one of the best ways to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.
*I love that you find that audiobooks of your childhood favorites are just about the right speed.
*I love that you think gigantic plaid elbow bows are A-OK.
*I love that you are OK with spending 20 hours making sad gigantic plaid elbow bow shirtdress and not finishing it in time for winter's enid, and putting it away until next year.
*I love that, even as you are arguing with your mom that she + your dad should NOT eat around the mold that has grown on their cheese, there is a part of you that agrees with her and would do the same. Life is messy, never truly black and white, isn't it?
*I love that you walk barefoot in the grass.
*I love that your friends bond over things like baking desserts or rock climbing or leaning against the couch and catching up on life.
*I love that you are open to advice, open to growing yourself even when it means admitting that you are wrong.
*I love that you have not owned a car or a TV for all your adult life.
*I love that you sometimes mix half-and-half into the heady, Black Chinese teas they have at work, just because it's exactly what you want.
*I love that, instead of reading magazines, you watch films for fashion inspiration.
*I love that you're growing more assertive. I love that you're realizing that speaking up about your own needs doesn't have to be a zero sum game, but that you can find ways to make things win-win for everyone involved, even if you take that mindset into a couple too many scenarios and your friends laugh over it. That's OK, cuz other times they come running to you to help them smooth over situations. And you're happy to help, if you can.
*I love that you like scrubbing toilets and cleaning sinks, especially if you can do it for your mom and save her some housework.
*I love that your singing is very bad, to the point where you purposefully go off key to induce laughter in the people around you.
*I love that you hold your ground with the COO and Medical Directors at work, even if it scares you. Or step up and take the messy and the uncomfortable tasks.
*I love that you occasionally watch Saturday morning cartoons and laugh like crazy and clap your hands and find it the most refreshing thing ever.
*I love that you sometimes have dreams that are narrated in such beautiful prose that in your dream, you wrestle with yourself over whether or not to wake yourself up adn write down the words flowing through your mind.
*I love that you have more hobbies than time to invest in them.
*I love that you booked a 2-week trip to China, solo, and that the thought of being alone for so long only slightly terrifies you.
*I love that you booked the trip anyways.

Darlings, I am headed out of here for not 2 but 3 weeks - visiting a friend in Korea, and then wandering to my heart's content in China. I don't plan to update while I'm away and will participate in MMM in a perfunctory sense (I am bringin a couple handmades, not many), but look forward to catching up when I get back!