The Birthday Principle
With my birthday near the winter holidays, my extended family tries to convince my mother that we should postpone the dinner. Wouldn't it be better to celebrate on Christmas Eve? Mom respectfully declines. Every year. Then they conveniently forget to show up because of holiday shopping. Rather than perpetuate disappointment, we retired their tradition. For the last few years, we bonded over films and playlists and evolved our relationship beyond cake and mother-daughter cubicles. Just last year we took a trip to New Town, CT and spent the afternoon into the late evening (or early morning depending on your p.o.v) helping in any capacity we were allowed, in shadow of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. We cried and laughed and shared unforgettable stories. A meaningful birthday is a good birthday.
As a young child, my mother was tasked with dressing me up, reflecting on who I have been the past year, and who I should be in the year to come. The design of the cake was a unspoken test to see how well she paid attention. By my early teenage years, it was a partnership. No cake, no dress, but the conversations and late night board games co-shaped me just the same. At 21 years, I'm said to be the driver of my choices. But behind every choice is a motive, mine weighed by family and morals. Since the first, every birthday "celebration" holds meaning. This year is no exception.
This year's cake bears the Fibonacci spiral because though the 21 is applicable only for this year, its meaning imprints deeper and longer. The sequence represents the ability to overcome obstacles, refusal to limit one's vision, and reminder of the natural creativity in the systematic and the organization in the undomesticated. More importantly, the spiral incorporates my older brother. A large pillar of 2013 was his return home from his military deployment. His first love was math and number puzzles. So while it's my birthday, it's everyone's cake, and it's a blessed day because of he returned home safely.
Also, thank you to my older brother for the pictures I forgot to take.
As a young child, my mother was tasked with dressing me up, reflecting on who I have been the past year, and who I should be in the year to come. The design of the cake was a unspoken test to see how well she paid attention. By my early teenage years, it was a partnership. No cake, no dress, but the conversations and late night board games co-shaped me just the same. At 21 years, I'm said to be the driver of my choices. But behind every choice is a motive, mine weighed by family and morals. Since the first, every birthday "celebration" holds meaning. This year is no exception.
This year's cake bears the Fibonacci spiral because though the 21 is applicable only for this year, its meaning imprints deeper and longer. The sequence represents the ability to overcome obstacles, refusal to limit one's vision, and reminder of the natural creativity in the systematic and the organization in the undomesticated. More importantly, the spiral incorporates my older brother. A large pillar of 2013 was his return home from his military deployment. His first love was math and number puzzles. So while it's my birthday, it's everyone's cake, and it's a blessed day because of he returned home safely.
Also, thank you to my older brother for the pictures I forgot to take.
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