May 20, 2024

I have no more platform left to vent out my feelings for the ☘️ month 🌼 and days that just passed and will come, except this one☝️so forget about my artworks for a while. Let’s just do some serious blogging. May is my birthday month. 20 is my birthday and on Monday the 20th of May this year, I will turn 60 and a Senior Citizen of the world as a matter of fact! 🍃I’m trying to figure how this one goes but just like I said, it’s just a matter of fact. 🍁 I don’t feel any different or special or even older except that I’ve accepted the days that keep marching by to be days that lead to substance, days that count, days that lead to acceptance and productivity…to happiness, fulfilment and all gaining momentum for me to become a better me; 🌞 things that were so alien to me just a couple of years ago 🐦‍🔥.

Whatever this means, I feel a lot more whole than when I was oh, 30? 💥 I try to do what I can to maintain a level of happiness that no one else can give me, not my family nor my friends. They say that loving yourself is the best nutri-bullet or mental attitude to assume in life; but that's really easier said than done. Having lived my (almost 60, a lot!) years mostly alone, always keeping to myself and sometimes highly reclusive, I’ve finally reached the stage of being the one true friend to myself. Maybe it does go with the territory of maturity, of growing up and of ultimately expanding one’s horizons. Other than my regular gym visits which is in no case a minor thing (and quite turning out to be one of the best decisions of my life) Social Media, with all its glaring flaws I think I have craftily utilised with a curious mix of caution and robustness. Short of saying my life is an open book, I have to say it really is! What can I say? At this point though, I'm caught between not giving a fuck and just doing my thing…as long as I don’t hurt anybody in the process. And! If they hurt me, then all my workouts may come in handy as a time to put the self-defence to the fore. Hopefully though, it won’t come to that point 😂.

So, I have no expectations of a grand event happening on my sacred of days. Nothing ever happens anyway. I don’t really remember celebrating it with a proper happy birthday party dedicated solely to me. If there ever was, there won’t be any this year again and so that ceases to be my goal. I know I celebrate everyday as a sacred day devoted to me just being content in the moment and maybe that’s more than anybody could ask for. The world today is such a crazy place and just trying to be sane with all the wild mass media goings-on and hysteria is a good enough gift to oneself, don’t you think? Birthdays are a time for reflection and creating time to be with those close to you even if only physically; with family.

Therefore, to whoever’s reading this I pray that you share a quiet little birthday shoutout for me this May 20, anno domini 2024. And although this is not necessarily my birth month flower (it's lily of the valley btw), if ever you see a red flower like this one on this day, send it mentally to me; then I'll have a bouquet of Reds in the ether far across space and time where no one can touch, no one can hear and no one can destroy it; incidentally my chosen color for the year.

Red Chrysanthemum