Birthdays – How present are you?
So the Queen celebrates her 90th Birthday this weekend and I wonder how she feels about it? I wonder what gift you would give her? How many of us actually stop to think about what our day of birth really means to us?
Celebrating, or not celebrating, the gift of life is such a personal experience and for us all individually we may have many associations and feelings attached to the time frame around the actual day as well as on the day itself. And then there is the present/gift thing – the moment when we give and the moment when we receive.
Perhaps also there is the moment of choosing a present for another person – are we really thinking about that person’s needs and wants or are we stumbling around grabbing the nearest ‘safest’ impersonal present that we know will easily be accepted on the surface? How ‘present’ are we when we make that selection?
What does our choice of gift say about our relationships and level of meaningful contact with the other person and also with ourselves? How much does a gift express the value that we hold for another or for ourselves or in others eyes towards us? What is it like to ask for something you would truly like or to receive something that you truly need and want? What is it like to receive something which is disappointing?
Yep, Birthdays certainly have a lot to answer for….
Telephone