Carpe Diem

Today is my birthday. As a grown-up, or someone masquerading as one, anyway, I don't know how I feel about that. In many ways, it's just another day, yet in many others, it's not. Not at all.

Maybe it's that it's Monday, I tell myself, or that I have so many deadlines (a good problem to have when you're a writer). Or maybe it's that the past few weeks have involved so much running from place to place, breaking away from routine, reuniting our little family, that this day, whatever day of the week it is, has caught me by surprise.

But I love surprises -- mostly -- and perhaps the secret is to focus on those...

The barista at Starbucks who told me I have a lovely smile.

Lunch with my daughter, where she surprised me by picking up the check.  

The waiter at the diner who recognized us from his prior place of business.

Real birthday cards in the actual mailbox.

...and to view today -- and each new day -- as an opportunity. To write a proposal for a new book, a scene for a novel-in-progress or to simply curl up with a good book, guilt-free. To smile back at the sweet barista, enjoy my free birthday Starbucks and spend time with the people I love. 

In the end, perhaps that's what a birthday is: an opportunity.

To be grateful.

To notice.

To celebrate.

To love.

Or, as one of my friends wrote on my Facebook page, "Carpe diem."

Come to think of it, that's a pretty good way to approach every day.

What will you do with your day?