It’s been weird not hosting a week of livestreams for the Sunshine Summit this week… no fancy cake (my sister is an incredible baker and cake decorator!), and no live video calls with people that I enjoy or the live audience.
Portal Cake for 2018, Sun Cake chosen by Patrons for 2019, and the epic Groot Cake for 2020.
Although it has been so good to have the week off because I am way too tired and busy to be able to host them. But for the past 3 years that’s how I have celebrated my birthday.
So needless to say this year was a lot less exciting, and much less anxiety inducing. Not having to worry about any tech issues, or trying to retain information about my wonderful guests because there was no pressure to “go live.”
A much quieter week and birthday celebration.
Though the Sunshine Summit hasn’t embarked on it’s 4th year and 7th event, I am proud of the effort I put in to produce them and grateful to everyone who joined me. I am also working on continuing that journey through the Not Just Heather’s podcast.
Birthdays are weird. Some people love celebrating birthdays, to others it’s just another day. I always find it interesting to see who remembers someone’s birthday without a social media app blatantly pointing it out. It’s so lovely when people remember of their own volition! Also, announcing it’s your birthday feels weird. Usually, I am the person who’ll organise something extra special for someone else’s celebration. Whether it be a birthday, an anniversary or milestone… but very rarely does it work the other way, and this year I decided to make my own plans for my day very simple. I ended up sharing a few things on Instagram.
I always have goals for each calendar year, and each birthday milestone. One goal for this birthday was to do declutter my life. Which I’ve been working on in earnest in 2021. Feels so good to let go of a lot of things. This year I deactivated one of my social media accounts. There’s a few more on my list to go, and I look forward to the freedom. Leaving social media platforms might feel tricky – that’s where you connect with people, and if you’re a content creator it almost seems mandatory to have a “presence”. But I’ve found that whether it’s my own social media or groups that I’ve been a part and used to actively participate in is now just exhausting. And this year’s goal is to do more things that are nourishing.
March 17th was a beautiful clear sky sunny day, after much needed rain. I was able to turn the hot water cylinder on to heat the hot water which is one of the biggest achievements I have with my off-grid system. In the morning, I got to spend time talking with a good friend (thank you Zach) before I went to have lunch with my sister at our favourite cafe. I ate too much… lesson hopefully learned by being incredibly uncomfortable for the rest of the day.
A discord community member took time to record a voice message informing the community and wishing me a very happy birthday, which was one of the biggest highlights of the day! I appreciate the effort so much.
And to wrap up the day, I was given a piece of crystal art / 5D diamond painting which took a lot of time and effort.
My favourite character is Eeyore from the Winnie the Pooh characters (I love blue, Eeyore doesn’t like to bother anyone and he’s relatable).
