The days are long and the years are short, someone advised me when I was a young mother. They were right; those years flew by! And not just the years of hands-on mothering—all of them seem to be accelerating. I'm hitting a round number this year and thinking about what I might do to mark it in some way.
A fun idea that got some discussion in an online community I'm in: Whatever age you turn this year, take that number and think of things you can do up to that count. Not all things that involve spending money either—things that might involve time or attention or effort or friends and loved ones. These can become part of your celebration of your birthdayweekmonth (which is what we call it at our house). You might have to start before if you want to accomplish a certain total by that date but this isn't a competition.
I'll get the ball rolling with some of my ideas and some from my younger sister, who more than rose to the challenge when I asked for her ideas. Some of my ideas definitely draw on things I've picked up reading the book and then the ongoing newsletter The Art of Noticing, by Rob Walker.
If you're turning 60 this year, for example, you could write in your journal, draw or paint if that's your talent, or otherwise record:
- 60 people who matter to you or made a difference in your life
- 60 of your favorite things/things you appreciate or are grateful for (early mornings enjoying the view before the world gets moving, the color peacock blue, the foam on top of a latte, chevron wooden floors in old houses, old couples holding hands, a really good hair and outfit day, warm and fuzzy sox, smell of cut grass, home-cooked meal I didn't have to make or clean up after, hot coffee in the morning, Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man and Vivaldi's Four Seasons)
- 60 fabulous words (scrumptious, poppycock, kerfuffle, facetious, and of course fabulous itself)
- 60 places you'd like to go and/or have already been (map with pins—one color for "been there" and another for "going there")
- 60 things you like/enjoy about yourself/your life
- 60 holidays you invent with associated food, symbolism, and celebratory activities people would engage in on those special days
- 60 favorite moments (whether you've had them yet or not!)
Things you could do, whether it's a treat you give yourself, a hobby or challenge, or an extension of yourself for others:
- Take 60 different walks/hikes/bike rides (going the opposite way around a loop counts)
- Notice 60 different things over a week or two of your regular daily walk/bike ride
- Find 60 treasures (rocks, driftwood, shells, beach glass, perfect pinecone, seed pods)
- Find 60 instances of a particular "something" while on a walk, ride, or transit trip—like occurrences of the color yellow, traffic signs, blooming shrubs or trees, houses of a particular color or configuration
- Leave 60 "somethings" for people to find—could be poems you write, rocks you paint, books in a Little Free Library, chalk messages on a path, dollar bills tucked into library books (or your own pockets!), arrangements of found objects, little game tokens (I keep finding glass game markers in Squaxin Park when I go for my walks and I've been leaving one of my painted rocks in the same locations to create a kind of silent dialogue with whoever's leaving those)
- Try 60 new recipes or taste 60 new foods/dishes/sauces/seasonings
- Pay 60 compliments
- Laugh out loud 60 times in 60 days (cat videos count but can't be the dominant source)
- Do 60 squats every day (not all in a row and not all strenuous/deep)
- Start and end your day with 6 deep breaths while lying in bed—one for each decade
- Give yourself a hashmark every time you straighten your posture or pull your head back so it isn't jutting far forward from your spine; work on reducing the # of days it takes to reach 60 (one idea is to to use doorways as a trigger; every time you go through one, think of entering the room standing or sitting a bit taller)
- Go for a 60-minute walk, run, or bike ride (or miles instead of minutes, if that's what turns your cranks)
- Get on the bus or light rail, ride 60 stops, get off and explore wherever that leaves you
- Get 60 flowers and put them all around the house
- Do 60 Sun Salutations (oof—haven't been practicing)
- Read 60 books, poems, essays, or authors (over the course of some time frame—point is to make space for reading but I read more than this every year anyway)
- Spend 60 minutes in a nice, hot bath (aw, do I have to get out after 60? Can I make a down payment on future birthdays?)
- Sit out in the back yard or some other peaceful space where you won't be interrupted for at least 60 minutes listening to birds, relaxing, NOT thinking about the unfinished gardening chores
- Get a 60-minute massage
- Meditate for 60 minutes
- Watch 60 waves come into an ocean shore
- Hug someone for 60 seconds (most hugs last an average of 3 seconds so this will feel really long)
- Learn 60 oddball facts about some topic or topics (did you know wombats produce square poop?)
- Take 60 pictures of the same thing, trying to make it different each time whether that's through angles, lighting, or taking the pictures over a series of days
- Knit, crochet, or quilt 60 squares to be made into blankets for people who need them
