Birthday Bucket List

^{Cirque du Soleil – March 2022}

So, The Birthday was spectacular.

As it often is.

For as long as I can remember, it’s been more of a season than an actual day.

Maybe one of the upsides of not having had birthday celebrations as a child

Is that I unapologetically make up for lost birthdays by overdoing it.

Overdoing it to the point where my birthday takes on the tone of a magical theatre production.

It’s largely little, joy-bringers, yet if you string together a month of them it becomes larger than life.

There is music, laughter, adventure, lovely food and an outrageous amount of pampering.

My tribe knows how to get in where they can, elevating it to the nth degree.

My daughter says: I am a party of one and celebration is in my bones. It is also a progressive love festival, which fills me up for a really long time.

She didn’t want me to have a third pandemic birthday without family fanfare, so she flew in for the weekend.

With a broken toe that was still on the mend.

To take me to Cirque du Soleil Alegría.

I am so lucky to have such a thoughtful daughter and my heart zoomed to the moon at the gesture. Even though I initially wanted her to stay put, sitting there beside her at the show on the edge of my seat, I snuck grateful glances at her between mesmerizing performances. Flame throwers (my favorite), women who turned themselves into human pretzels and a slinky, acrobats flying through the air and that next-to-the-last-act of a woman balancing on another’s head while doing the splits. It was all so playful and magical! I can still hear the soaring music, feel the confetti landing in my hair, smell the smoke from the flame throwers, taste the joy in the atmosphere.

As if that weren’t enough of a thrill, I also typically get some sort of download from the universe during my birthday season. Some marching orders about my next year that I can take aim at. The question that came to me in the dawn of March was, “What haven’t I done that I might still want to do?” That question had so much juice that I plucked some ideas out of the air and put it out there to the tribe, and here is what I’ve got so far (that I’m actually going to do). I said yes to riding a quad in the desert, maybe to hiking slot canyons, and no to taking up archery. I mean, it’s for someone, just not me.

In no particular order, here’s the list so far:

1. Fly into a city I’ve never been to for one AMAZING day.
2. Sculpt fierce biceps.
3. Write a book of poetry.
4. Try champagne.
5. Hot springs road trip.
6. Ride a quad through the desert.
7. Another tattoo.
8. Learn more about my recently uncovered Nigerian ancestry and the culture.
9. Hot air balloon ride.
10. Slot canyons in Colorado.
11. Thirty random acts of kindness.
12. Study astronomy.
13. Get a new do.
14. Visit Santa Fe, New Mexico.
15. Boudoir photo shoot.
16. Helicopter ride.
17. Get really good at making sauces.
18. Create a playlist that tells my life story
19. Learn to make a signature cocktail.
20. Rockhound road trip.
21. A masterclass a week.
22. Birdwatching to find birds I’m interested in.
23. Have a low-buy year.
24. Visit my mother’s birth place.
25. Release things I know longer need.

Feel free to pitch an addition. I’m not going to bungee jump or hunt wild animals, but pretty open otherwise.

Cheers,

Nailah