If you had told me last year that I would spend my birthday staying the hell away from everyone, I would've thought you were a liar and a hater. And yet here we are, in the middle of a pandemic, either separated from each other or doing our best to just stay the hell away. My birthday came and went a week ago. But even though the day has passed, I'm still doing a lot of reflecting.
I definitely didn't expect for this birthday to turn out the way it did. In a world without Corona, I would be in Atlanta right now (like, RIGHT NOW!) enjoying drinks with my best friend at her awesome place in the city. We would spend our days shopping and eating and our nights would be filled with concerts and clubs. But that's not the world I live in.
There were things I did last birthday that I completely took for granted, things I'm no longer able to do at all now...
Took two flights
Stayed with my best friend
Spent the weekend in Atlanta
Went to night clubs
Went out to eat
Attended a concert
Shopped at a mall
Last year, I even did things on my birthday weekend that aren't necessarily forbidden but are now considered dangerous or are done with caution...
Took an Uber or Lyft
Ate in an open area
Sat in a lobby
Congregated outside with friends
As I said, I no longer live in a world where Corona doesn't exist. Instead, I live in a world where illness has spread so much so that even being less than six feet away from a stranger is considered risky.
Even with this though, while reflecting, I realized that this year was still full of things that I had taken for granted before—things that meant so much to me this time around...
Drove to the lake (in areas that were not restricted)
Spent time with family (both in-person and via Zoom)
Ordered some good food (and ate it at home)
Enjoyed peace, quiet, and the good weather God gave me
And somehow, that was enough. Maybe because at this point, I'm just happy to have made it this far for this long. I thought celebrating a birthday in the middle of a pandemic would be depressing, but it wasn't. Instead, it was a reminder that I am living in the middle of this, in spite of it, along with this nonsense. That's pretty amazing, no matter how messed up things are. I've made it this far, and I'm content with that.
I'm content with 27.
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