People who don’t like their own birthday are running away from something.

“Attention.”

They always say.

I don’t understand this personally — I love my birthday almost as much as I love attention — but whatever, fine.

You don’t need to announce to every room you walk into that it’s the day of your birth. You don’t need to tell anyone at all.

But you know. And there’s no running away from that. So why not take advantage of a day unlike any other?

Do you hate your birthday? Here are some possible reasons as to why.

(Note: this list offers no serious judgment. Only the cheeky Fran Leibovitz sort.)

You feel you are getting “old”.

Alright. I‘m aware I am still young, and have yet to encounter, say, any health issues that come naturally with age… but is it not a blessing to be alive?

If you say “no”…

You don’t like your birthday because you don’t like your life, and that’s a call to reflection if I ever heard one.

See REASON #2 below.

2. You don’t want to deal with your reflection.

Like the arrival of January 1st, another 365 days of inhaling oxygen on this planet we call Earth offers a chance for introspection. Retrospection. Inspection of several sorts.

It is inevitable that once in a while — somtimes more than that — an account of the previous year brings about feelings of complete and utter shit. Whether this shittiness is a result of our own doing, the state of the world, or just plain bad luck… there is no denying: your year was shit.

And I’m sorry.

But… can we not use the day to mark a change? As Jonathan Larson said, there is no day but today. Might as well make it your birthday.

Easier said than done, of course.

3. You’re lonely.

Maybe you can’t be with family this year. Maybe you just went through a breakup. Maybe your friends suck.

This is a shame. There is no denying it. Still, this is an instance where solitude could and should be highly esteemed.

Take yourself on a birth date, baby.

Take yourself to dinner. Or get drunk on your couch. Go for a walk in nature. Or stay in bed and sleep the day away.

It’ll be over before you know it.

—

The fact is, even people like myself who look forward to their birthday have years where the day just doesn’t hit right.

Maybe the weather that day was crappy. Or your overpriced hamburger was overcooked. It just goes to show that no matter how brilliant and beautiful your year — there will always be elements of shit to it.

I guess that’s why some people put their head down and ignore it completely.

But not I!

If there’s one positive thing I can say for my character, it’s that I will never avoid said shit. After all, one must dig through the shit to find the gold. Or something. There’s a proverb in here somewhere.

I hope you all find the strength to face the shit. Is what I’m saying.

I don’t know how to close this, so I will end on a quote from a play I just read.