I was never much into celebrating my birthday. Well, I shouldn’t say ‘never’; there was this one time that my mom threw me an amazing birthday party when I was 8. She invited all my friends, created all these fun games for everyone to play (handmade from scratch) and even made sure to have prizes for everyone. Everyone had a fantastic time. Unfortunately, by doing so, she inevitably set a standard that was impossible to beat so naturally my Birthday has been sucking ever since.
Whether the expectations are too high because you feel that somehow, this year it’ll be different or the expectations aren’t there to begin with because you’ve already made peace with the fact that it’s gonna blow, the outcome is almost always the same – complete and utter disappointment.
I have years and years of unsuccessful birthdays behind me. I could never wrap my mind around some people’s ability to gather crowds and organize events that everyone would not only show up to but also enjoy. I may be the ultimate organizer when it comes to the kitchen tools and my closet, but when it comes to my birthday, all I want is to sit back and do zero things. Even so, that’s not to say that I haven’t attempted to organize birthday shenanigans in the past. However, in my experience people are far more likely to either bluntly show no interest in the event whatsoever, or show up due to some inane ‘social obligations’ that no one is forcing upon them. I for one have no desire in spending my birthday with those whom I’d feel the need to convince to come; nor do I feel the need to celebrate my ‘special day’ with a gigantic gesture – I’m too old for that shit.
This year, I turned 28.
I’m happy to say that there were no sparkly extravaganzas and I very much enjoyed the day with people I’m fortunate to call friends. Well, there was one sparkly thing and that was the ‘Birthday Girl’ Tiara that I rocked all night. Well, most of the night; they made me take it off upon entering the gay club. I’m still not sure why… perhaps they didn’t want me to outshine their dancing stars. I didn’t mind though; by the time we got to the place, I’d already sported it all throughout dinner and got serenaded to twice because of it, so it’s not like purchasing the tiara was a waste. All in all my birthday was filled with delicious food, fun cocktails, nice gestures, small gifts, lots of dancing, multiple sessions of shoving singles into tight underwear and spanking tight booties, all the while having awesome conversations that made people sitting next to us feel awkward. Overall I’d say it was a successful birthday.
Still, nothing will ever compare to the magic of my 8th birthday but twenty years have passes since then and I think it might be time for me to let go. After all, while your birthday may be a milestone, a reason to celebrate and a reason to feel special, all it is just another day. We constantly reach new milestones, and quite frankly I’m so special in the head alone that I could celebrate every day if I so desired. So forget the obligatory hype that comes with your birthday and enjoy yourself all day, every day. Cheers!