Ritual #30 My 30th B-day & Spa Day (Part 2)

5/24/09

So aside from the day of renewal and relaxation. Brian and I planned to have a romantic evening at home for him to give me my present and also something to help me cement everything that I have learned from my past rituals in order to take it forward into my life.

I first drove Janis to the airport. It was hard to see her go. She's been here for over a week and it almost felt like she lived out here now. She said she felt the same and that it would be strange to be apart after having so many fun recent adventures together.

Brian and I decided to have dinner at home and we ordered take out. When I got home it was there and Brian was arranging the table. We put on some soft music and I opened my presents. First I opened a card from the kitties which is tradition. I opened a funny one from Brian that had a little bunny on the front which said "I'm sorry I didn't bake you a cake, I have other ideas for the frosting" The bunny is winking suggestively. Brian wrote under it, "I eat is it!" Which made me giggle. I opened my present to find a Supernatural book based on the TV show which is one of my favorite ones. I opened my sweet/romantic card from Brian which read "A birthday promise, a lifetime of love, for the love of my life." Signed "Love you baby" BC
Next I opened and found the movie Twilight that I hadn't bought yet and really wanted. I opened and found the first season for True Blood which I am soo excited for. Brian bought me the most recent book in the Sookie Stackhouse series which True Blood is based but I read it already so we are going to go back to the store and he'll let me pick something out I want to read.

Then came the ritual. Brian had typed something out on a piece of paper. This is what I read:

I've been doing HMAD for over 2 years now without missing a day, and I STILL get people saying "You really watch a movie every day?". But they also often comment about how there's "no way" they could ever find the time to do that. I then explain that my entire day is pretty routine, so all it took was fitting it into the "schedule", and thus now it's just part of my day, same as showering, eating my cereal, or going to work a half hour late.


And that is the complete opposite of you, who practically loathes routine. You live for adventure and new experiences, to the extent where getting you to relax for the better part of a Sunday is considered a triumph for me. That said, I wasn’t too surprised when you said that you were going to do 30 “rituals” leading up to your birthday.


Some were fairly simple, such as riding on the swings at the park or dancing for fun. Others took the better part of a day or even a weekend. Some were solo, others required assistance from others (or involved doing something for another person). As I read your blog, I see that each had their own lesson to take away, and they were all unique from one another.


Suffice to say, as the previous sole daily blogger of the house, I am very proud of you for writing about each one and (I think) not missing any days, something I couldn't even manage in my first month (I missed a movie 9 days after starting HMAD). I am also impressed with the range of activities, some I didn't even know about until I read the blog.


But the funny thing is, you could have written a blog about what you did without any sort of plan or guide over any random month of the year and it wouldn't look much different. Birthday or not, you’re always doing art projects, going to yoga/dance classes, going on hikes, trying new foods/recipes, etc. So while you only planned for 30 days, and there were a couple days where you were worried about "having time" for the day’s ritual, from my point of view, you’re more or less been doing the same thing (sans the blogging) that you’ve been doing since I have known you and probably a long time before that.


In short, I hope you realize that you don’t need a birthday to be a catalyst for continuing to be yourself, and I hope you continue to update your blog with all the new and/or focused experiences you enjoy from day to day.


Happy Birthday Cuddle! Love!

Suffice to say there were tears in my eyes after I finished reading it. It meant a lot to me that he said he was proud for what I did and saw the value that I took away from the experience. This whole experience has helped me to see that you can make every day magical. It is all about intention and what you want for yourself each day.

The next part of the ritual included feeding each other. We dug into our Chinese food which was really good. We fed each other a piece being symbolic of how we will continue to try to feed each other's dreams. This felt so significant to symbolize how important it is to receive support from one another to go after our dreams.

After dinner I lit some candles in the bedroom and we lay there talking and cuddling. We shared what our dreams are for the future. It was good to share it and realize that we do want the same things such as home, children, a fulfilling career. Sometimes you might just assume what each other wants. It felt so good laying in his arms knowing that we are looking forward to a wonderful future together. We both see each other and love one another for who they are.

This was the perfect ending of a wonderful day and my rituals.