Several people have asked, so this is as good a place as any to try to explain May 22nd.
You know how everyone looks forward to Christmas? You feel happy and keenly aware of the season and the good people and aspects of your life. There is a pervasive sense of magic. There is anticipation of wonderful surprises.
Well, a million years ago, when I was about 10 or 11 years old, I decided that I wanted a day like that all to myself. I chose May because it’s a pretty, green month, and 22 because the numbers are round and curvy and identical. There is no other reason. It commemorates nothing.
But since then, I have celebrated it as a day to notice how great my life is. I always know good things will happen that day: A call from a someone I haven’t heard from in years. A rebate check I’d forgotten I sent away for. Friends inviting me out for lunch or drinks. A hairstyle that works perfectly on the first try. More things checked off the to-do list than added. Even if I spend the day alone, mowing the lawn or doing laundry, it is a perfect, zen-mowing afternoon, and the weather is always perfect. The few years it rained, it turned out that those days were absolutely ideal for curling up with a great book.
It’s a day when life is really really good and I’m particularly inclined to notice. It's when I celebrate... just being.
2 comments:
That? Is awesome!
I came up with new words to explain May 22: It's the day when i STOP pursuing happiness and make a point of enjoying the happiness I already have.
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