A very merry un-Birthday to me

My birthday was a few days ago and I noticed that many people seemed to be very intent on wishing me the Best Day Ever, then later asking me how it had been. The day was just fine - I hung out with my family and had a low-key dinner at Mandarin - but it wasn't anything particularly special.

You see, my favourite kind of day cannot be specifically planned out. A lot of what makes a day special for me is coincidence: the right things happening at the right time. For example, I love having deep, insightful conversations with people (primarily, but not limited to, close friends). We talk about somewhat hidden facets of our personality, share secrets, and get to know each other at a more personal level. But, these types of conversations cannot be planned (though I have tried) - they must happen organically, when the time is right.

I am going to outline for you what a Perfect Day in the Life of Care would look like. To aid this process, I looked through my Happy Book (in essence, a daily gratitude journal) entries from Aug 30-Dec 22, 2009 [100 days].

Here's how my day would go:
- Hanging out with my cats and having some time to myself for personal reflection.
- Being productive or accomplishing something difficult (this could include organizing something, coming out to someone, finally replying to an e-mail, etc.)
- Taking a walk in the rain and/or unseasonably warm weather with a close friend and have a deep conversation with them. We would also do something fun, like going to a playground.
- Noticing the little things in life (which in those 100 days included driving through Atlanta, seeing wooden train models hanging in a tree near Belleville, encountering an elephant on Yonge St. on Hallowe'en, the beautiful Old Mill subway station, the perfect Scrabble board, a free temporary tattoo with a cow on it, etc. etc.)

For me, a birthday is just like any other day. If it happens to go amazingly well, that's great; otherwise, it's no big deal because there will be other, even more amazing, days.