Anniversaire

Always time for tea.

I am not really a big fan of birthdays at least not my own birthdays. I actually find more joy in celebrating a loved one's birthday than my own. Nevertheless, birthdays to me are important as they serve as a milestone to take stock of life, otherwise life would be merely a constant stream of consciousness, no more no less. This year's milestone marks my last year as a twenty-something and it shows. Of late, I have been shocked with increasing frequency by the realization that certain events or memories actually took place further back in time than I had originally supposed. With this phenomenon, I cannot help but ask myself on this birthday where all that time in between went. More importantly, I find myself struggling to to account for all that time that has passed; What do I have to show for it? I would cut myself some slack and narrow it down to the past three years rather than to ask myself what I have done with my life since birth but still, the inability to produce an answer is telling. All I can show are a fistful of fears, a smattering of scars and a tacit acceptance that I am no longer as invincible as I thought I was just a few years ago. Perhaps the only thing that I can take away from this year's milestone is a realization that the longer I live, the shorter life seems. Happy Birthday.