My mother and I celebrate our birthdays this weekend. Mine was Friday, hers is Monday. Where to eat? What to do? I dropped movies off at the library while she packed up the garage. Not a thrilling way to celebrate, but necessary. I think it's time I remember what it means to celebrate life at all. Renew in my mind the awareness required to really honour one's own birth. Remember that this moment is precious. Thoroughly delight in whatever company finds its way to you today. Listen to their conversation. Don't just hear; don't try to converse. Ask questions rather than offer solutions, and listen . Laugh at many things, but not everything. Do not laugh at the loss of anyone's dignity; prize and protect it. Stand up for the one whom general opinion shuns - unless it is not opinion, but right judgment. Listen to music with both ears, with the brain, with the mouth slightly open, and with the eyes half-closed. But be willing to turn the music off when people arrive. Or