Turning 40

Of course, I’m not the first person to reach the age of 40 but I am someone who has been spoiled more than most on her birthdays. Thusly, I prefer to not let my birthday pass without recognition--like some other, more grounded souls can--and this milestone of a birthday is hardly an exception. You see, Folks: next week, I enter middle age---or truly what I hope is middle age, or the middle age(s), so as to not give myself such a specific stopping point---and the celebration has got to be big. I calculated that it was too much pressure to put on just one day and decided to spread my birthday out over several---40, to be exact. Starting a couple of days before my actual birthday, Amy Cole Farrell’s Forty Days of Birthday will begin. It will be part mini midlife crisis, part soulful journey. It will be a lot of work to maintain festivities for over a month, but I had a revelation earlier this year: I managed to keep myself alive for 40 years! A grand recognition should be made.

I’m not interested in scheduling the joy out of these 40 days, but I do have some ideas about stuff to do. I’ll still have to do things like raise my child, be a wife, clean house, and research my PhD, but beyond the daily of life, I’ll present myself with exceptional tasks each day. I would love suggestions.

Visit museums

Run

Spend an entire day speaking only German

Bake and decorate a cake

Sit in silence for 30 minutes

See movies

See live music

Drink champagne

Perform a premeditated, random act of kindness

Visit castles

Work in the studio

Dig for potatoes

Throw a dinner party

Teach a class

Crack the spine of Mastering the Art of French Cooking

See theatre

Take a dance lesson

Spend an entire day just playing with my son

Make myself a birthday crown

Fly a kite

The beauty of the best-laid plans is that they are bound to be interrupted by even more delicious prospects. Anything could happen in these 40 days. Sadly, I don’t wake up every morning with the same wonder and presence I hope to have during my Birth-Days. It won’t be without its challenges but maybe I’ll emerge transformed, with 40 priceless gifts.

Photo: Me, on my 35th Birthday, celebrated in 1 day.