on choosing delight

and celebrating my birth month

It’s my birth month, so grab your gift: if you’re not a paid subscriber, for the month of July, I’m offering 25% off annual subscriptions. I hope you join me!

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Last week, I decided to explore a park not far from where we’re currently living. It’s a beautiful space, donated to the city almost 90 years ago by a wealthy man in honour of his wife, which is sweet enough; but also, there’s a charming café at the entrance. So, I sat with my dog and enjoyed my cappuccino on a pretty perfect English summer day.

Delight.

This is my birth month. As I was writing this post, I remembered that for my birth month last year, I celebrated with A Month of Daily Delights (you can see some of them here) — it began with getting my first tattoo, and included everything from ice cream cones to beach vacations. It was such a lovely practice of noticing and creating a good life that I vowed to do it every year. I was a little late this year in remembering this promise to myself; nonetheless, July began with a friend coming into town and I showed her around the city, so the month is already looking promising.

Delight.

This upcoming birthday will be the last of my 50s, which means that this is the year I get to really focus on what it means to set myself up well for my third act. In storytelling, the third act is when the climax happens: the protagonist takes everything she’s learned in the previous two acts and, in a last gambit, throws everything at the conflict’s resolution. It’s Dorothy finally getting the determination and confidence she needed to stand up to and throw water at the Wicked Witch. It’s Luke pushing the scope away and trusting The Force before firing the guns on his X-wing fighter to take down the Death Star. It’s the moment where the hero finally comes into their full power. So as I celebrate this month, I’m also thinking: what do I need to do this year to meet my birthday next year ready to come into my full power?

It’s a pretty exciting thought.

Something I’ve been mulling over is this wonderful piece by Jenna Park about “giving yourself permission” versus “choosing.” Like her, I’ve always felt a bit uneasy with the phrasing “give yourself permission.” At my grown age, and as long as I’m rooted in integrity and kindness. I don’t feel like I need anyone’s permission to do anything, including my own. Like Jenna, I’m going to choose.

In fact, maybe that’s what this next year will be about. Choosing.

So on that note, just as I’ll be choosing delight this month, I’ll be choosing more of my life going forward. It’s pretty serendipitous that I’m in a new country and entering a new life on this last year of my 50s. What freedom. What potential.

What delight.

Happy summer, everyone.

P.S. If daily delights enchant you, I cannot recommend The Book of Delights by Ross Gay enough. It might be my favourite book I’ve enjoyed this decade, and it’s the perfect summer read.

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