Today is my Birthday!

I'm not just saying that to get people to say "Happy Birthday," although I welcome you to do so. I encourage it, in fact.  I like when folks say "Happy Birthday" to me.   My real reason for this post is that I am feeling introspective on this 35th anniversary of my birth. I imagine most people feel the same way on their own. 

I said something in my last post.  Sometime that was really just a throw away statement, but it I have been thinking about it obsessively since.  I mentioned that I tend to compartmentalize my life by the seasons.  I have been wondering if it is a "chicken or egg" type scenario:  Do I love the seasons because of Persephone or do I love Persephone because of the seasons?  Ultimately, I am not sure it matters.  What I have learned about myself, though, is that the seasons really affect how I live my life from day to day.  And Springtime signifies the traditional idea of rebirth and renewal.  It is a convenient cue that my birthday is just 8-10 days after the Spring Equinox. 

I was born on Holy Saturday and my birthday is frequently right around Easter. Like Christmas, I celebrate a sort of secular Easter - food, chocolate, and springtime renewal. And I have always heavily associated those things with my birthday. And what a fine time to celebrate my very own annual renewal.

Since Persephone is so intermingled with the turning of the seasons, it feels natural that I honor her on the turning of my very own season. Every year, I look back on the things that I have done in the past year and forward to the things I wish to accomplish in the coming year.

 And my 34th year has been a banner year. Among my accomplishments:

1. Building a house with my own two hands
2. Working hard on this very blog as well as other writing projects. 
3. Continuing to be successful at my career in spite of a down economy.

Each of these items has special significance in the long term.  Building a house has been exceptionally difficult and probably the single most rewarding thing I have ever done.  We are about halfway finished, but it wasn't until this spring that I realized precisely where we were in the project and how much we have actually accomplished.  During the long winter, it felt like we were behind but we are no where near behind.  See, compartmentalizing my life: the winter makes me think differently than the spring.  This tiny cabin is our pathway to a self-reliant lifestyle. 

Getting back to writing, whether it is this blog or the 120 Square Feet blog has really changed my outlook on things.  I feel like I am getting back to my roots.  I have wanted to "be a writer" since I was a little girl.  Sure, everyone has a blog today but it really feels like home for me.  Not everything I write is perfect, and you know what?  I am perfectly okay with that.  They are an offering to the Gods, and to Persephone especially to thank her for the turning of the seasons both literally and figuratively.  It does make me realize that all I really want to do is write, no matter what it is that I am writing about. 

Number three is an interesting bullet point.  I don't talk much about what I do for a living here on my blog, but the truth is I am good at it.  I work as a recruiter and this last year has been particularly hard in our industry. 2009 was not a banner year and we lost a lot of money.  In spite of that, I have felt very proud of the work that I have done.  We've had a really good first quarter 2010 and we feel really good about the state of things moving forward.  I've also pulled my company, nearly kicking and screaming, into the 21st century of internet recruiting.  I single handedly started an internet campaign with two blogs (one of job postings, one to communicate with our employees), a Facebook Fan page, a twitter account to promote our blog, and encouraged my whole company to participate on LinkedIn.  I don't want to be a recruiter forever, but now I am at least grateful for a good company that is still doing business in the marketplace and for the freedom to create tools to help us with our day to day work.  I love my boss and my co-workers and I will be very loyal to them. 

Considering these things, I do hope that my 35th year will be just as prosperous. There are many changes ahead. We will be completing our tiny cabin, moving into a smaller place in Atlanta and pushing toward a much simpler lifestyle.  I want to continue to move forward with more writing projects to phase that into my life and phase the 9-5 job lifestyle out.  I continue to follow the footsteps of Persephone's own journey,  I decend into the underworld in the Fall and spend the Winter months in introspection.  I emerge into sunlight of Olympos at the Spring to spend the Summer months taking action.  Her eternal story is my inspiration. 

Happy Birthday to me!