I am not quite sure what to share here on this day before my birthday. I am not quite sure how I have gotten here at the age that I am today. I expect that if I live many more years I will still be wondering about this.

The body ages, that which it houses does not. There are moments when I feel very young and moments when I feel ancient. What is another day, another birthday?

I shall share with you three quotes (collected and recorded during past birthday musings):

• "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; The soul that rises with us, our life's star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar; Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home." ~William Wordsworth"

• "Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born." ~Albert Einstein

• "We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment, but it is transient. It is a little parenthesis in eternity. If we share with caring, lightheartedness, and love, we will create abundance and joy for each other. And then this moment will have been worthwhile." ~Deepak Chopra

Today I am spending part of the day with my parent, part of my day teaching private clients, part of my day online (social media and fiddling with this website), part of my day with my partner. Parts of today will be given to cooking and eating, to driving from place to place, to any number of random things. And most of all today I will spend time with myself, in the quiet moments of the early morning, in the packing of things and stopping at traffic lights, in the time before bed. I will breathe and rest and be.

I invite you to do the same, to take time for contemplation, to be curious and to breathe.

peace,

Renee Arundhati