Birth month

Birthday in August is, quite frankly, between you and I, for all the glamour of summer and for all the opportunities sunshine affords, on some level quite sh*t.
People are invariably some place else. Or “unavailable” because they are about to leave for some place else and that absorbs their time and thoughts and your birthday is an inconvenience.
People are busy with their summer plans. And their summer thoughts. And their summer lives.
Birthday in August has the potential to be a rather disappointing, ”flat tyre” affair.

There has never been, nor there will ever be, a way to be with all the people I would hope to be with on my birthday.
Not gonna happen.
Ever.

And that’s just how the cookie crumbles.
There is absolutely nothing that can be done about that.
I learnt that round about 1st grade on my very first school summer break.
A life lesson that hasn’t changed as the years roll on.
With time I’ve gotten used to it so my hopes are never that high to start with.
Expectation adjustment is a real life line.

So the temptation always is to fill the day with activity if it cannot be filled with people.
I am never. ever ever. short of idea. At least God placed me, in August, quite near the source of the ideas spring. It does not dry up. Something inside tells me – it never will.

So this time round there were plans for bit of swimming, and a treetop adventure, and slap up lunch, and cinema or an escape room, and sleep, and an online class, and nature walk, and idle time in London before the theatre….
 
I am not going to lie – my mind was 100% on overload with options.
Trying to work out how to squeeze it all in. Do loads. Make it count. Coz, it’s – you know – the birthday.

Until I decided to cut it.
To actually do little.
Only what leisurely fits in a day, but mindfully. No pressure. No rushing. Just the fun bit, right-sized.
The good news: it does work, It absolutely does.
Doing little, whatever feels right at that time – that still makes for a memorable meaningful happy day.
Helped by the generosity of spirit of some (Thank you!) who remind you that you are appreciated regardless of where people are. And much loved.

And so it goes.
 

Much Love,

Eliza Do Little (and if you are August-born: I feel your pain. Which is why stretching it is how it goes. It’s not a birthday. It’s a birthmonth. And every little special thing that you do for the rest of the month is, you know – part of the celebration. Just keep doing a little every day and when you total it all up at the end of the month you will be amazed at the enormity of it. Doing little. But special. Nearly every day for a month. A totally fitting way to celebrate an August birthday)

To know your people

Love of words often makes me dissect them.
Yesterday for the first time my mind randomly and without warning dissected “Folklore”.

A bit obvious but I had not thought about it before.
“Folk” means people.
“Lore” means knowledge.
Which is what it is.

Folklore is about getting to know My people.
And within that is an incredible journey of getting to know hidden parts of myself too.

I find my land’s folklore fascinating.
It touches me in a way absolutely.nothing.else does.
It is rich beyond comprehension and varied beyond one’s imagination.
It allows me to sometimes transcend – an extra-odrinary experience I now know to crave.

And at the core of all of that is just love.
Much Love.
For myself and for my people.
Beautifully simple.

Much Love,
Eliza Do Little (but to know your people is one of the things worth doing)