July means summer and holidays to most people ... and in my life it also always brings my birthday. During the last few years, I've not celebrated my birthday in a big way as it just didn't feel like a big deal. I used my birthday instead as a day to be quiet and meditative, to turn in and just BE.

Celebrating Life:
But this year, somehow, there is an impulse to celebrate. Not so much my birthday itself, as this still seems quite arbitrary, but more Life itself: the mystery and miracle of showing up in this life, living what we're living, and then leaving again. And as our birthday marks our showing up in time and in this life, it can be meaningful to use this day as an opportunity to celebrate Life as it unfolds in this life, our life. And: to celebrate the beauty of Life in this form, our form. So in this spirit, I will be celebrating my birthday this year.