Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, inserting whatever your zodiac sign is before the word season has become a cute, popular way for folks to acknowledge that their birthday is approaching. It is a sort of soft launch, so to speak, in anticipation of their birthday festivities.
With the advent of social media, birthdays have become somewhat more consuming and fierce in terms of the need to feel celebrated. Birthday notifications have become like fluttering traffic lights to remind us who exactly surpassed our personal expectation for life achievements. They show us who among us is adored by their friends and family by way of likes and comments, sometimes even driving us through a narrow street of loneliness where we wonder if there is an exact amount of virtual love that can actually make birthdays better and a tad bit sweeter.
The cake, the production, and our human desire to feel appreciated have all been amplified with social media. So, it’s natural to experience some sort of birthday blues owing to these heightened expectations. If, like me, you are celebrating your birthday anytime soon and you are experiencing an onset of birthday blues, this is how I intend to beat mine, especially since my husband will be away.
Plan your day
If you are working or going to school, carefully map out how you will be spending the remaining hours of the day. Try to not leave anything up to spontaneity, this is where your brain has idle time to cook up expectations and unrealistic situations. Your birthday is probably the one day you are allowed to be openly selfish, so ask people to work around your plans, kindly of course. The main thing is to be intentional about doing something for yourself and ensuring the day is spent doing completely that. It’s not a birthday if it’s not about you.
Manage your expectations
Social media is great and it’s also the devil. People with whom you have strained relationships wouldn’t just manage to put their differences aside for your birthday and that’s okay. People who you would love to hear from probably won’t even remember because they are caught up in the hassle of everyday life. That’s okay. Birthdays are a fantastic way of knowing who is really there. Instead of moping over who didn’t show up for you, look at it as an effective strainer. A strainer that managed to neatly gather the people who truly value you.
Openness
Wallowing in self-pity can make us feel isolated. To a certain point it can even make us feel ashamed of openly thinking we deserve love. Try not to be shy on your birthday. Be open to telling people it’s your birthday whether it’s your co-workers or classmates. An extra bit of tenderness from everyone will not harm you and whatever you do, don’t shut down people’s kindness or make them feel bad for their efforts.
However you intend to spend your day, just be aware there is a heightened need to for birthdays to feel carefully curated and not necessarily meaningful. Start with the question why do I want this and will this actually make me feel better before feeling absolutely devastated because something didn’t go exactly how you imagined it
