It’s My Party (Lesley Gore, 1963), or for the younger crowd, Melanie sampled It’s My Party and made Pity Party in 2015. It’s the quintessential HSP birthday song.
It’s My Party came out the year before I was born, but my highly sensitive parents, both born in 1940, raised me on music from their youth (the 1950s and 1960s) which is why I often name blogs and workshops after music lyrics!
I can’t say that I have enjoyed very many parties in my life as an introverted, highly sensitive person. And yet, I still wish I enjoyed them!
Who wants a birthday party anyway?
Me, sometimes, at least, and as long as it is on my own terms. At this point in my life I think I’ve learned to carefully curate and design my party.
I like lots of time alone and time in nature.
And yet, I also want those I love to reach out to me.
I want to be really healthy as I age another year.
And yet, I want to eat everything I want to eat that is sweet and yummy and indulgent.
I want to stay home and curl up with my book and my dog and cat.
And yet, I want to go to my favorite trails and walk all the labyrinths I know.
I want to hang out in the pasture with my colt.
And yet, I want to be in Hawaii, honoring my birth-day and my new decade.
My birthday party is extra important to me this year because it marks a major milestone as I turn 60… and I want to go forth into my NEW year consciously.
Friday, November 15th, (that’s today) is my actual birthday. I made a video about what birthdays mean to me. It is a NEW year, a reset, a time to consciously choose to redesign a life that allows me to flourish.
I start my new year, my re-set, my re-commitment to myself over and over again, many times a year. Hear about how I do that with some short clips from my 2024 birthday week in the new video here.
Here I am, traveling, sleeping in a hotel bed (brought my pillow at least,) being awakened by a Kauai rooster every morning by 5am and trying to doze more after, chasing adventures with my son who is my birthday companion, getting tossed about and exhausted by waves and wind, shivering in the Hawaiian winter… Why did I plan this 10 day party? What was I thinking?
Friends keep asking me, “Are you relaxing? Are you having fun?” Would you be disappointed to hear that it all feels kind of hard. That’s the whole travel, new environment, transition piece. I’ve only been here 3 days and that’s not enough time to start to recover from life, from travel, from overstimulation…
But, I am starting today to settle into my birthday party vacation. I rented a wetsuit jacket to keep my body warm. I’m going to watch the sunset at a lovely restaurant this evening with my sweet son, and I might just vegetate in the pool or hottub all day (depending on temperature and wind.) Heck, I might even take myself to a thrift store.
And never fear, we keep the poke hunt going every day. Yes, every day will have its challenges for this sensitive introvert as I explore what it means to shift from the first sixty years into this new decade, from a momentous past year to a new reset. I embrace and push away, accept and fight, leap in and retreat as I dance my way through this complicated and full life with this brain full of thinking, feeling, and sensing. (At least I’m getting lots of exercise, lol.)
I’ve learned to define party in any and all ways that I want. And yet I have and will certainly cry this week because I cry often. I’m a highly sensitive person and a good leader in terms of emotional leadership. I have strong emotions about almost everything. It’s not always convenient, but it’s always a gift.
If you have never cried at your party, you might not enjoy the children’s book, Violet Shrink, that I’m sure the creators made about me! It’s one of the first books for sensitive kids that I read on my YouTube channel, and as you know, I always hope you will share the content. Thank you kindly.
Birthday blessings from me to you,
Alane
