In the grand scheme of things, 25 is just a number, even if applied to age. Yet we ascribe such significance to age, which make birthdays significant (non-)events. This year my closest friends and my family too celebrated with me ahead of this day, so no, I didn’t wake up feeling any different. Though yes, I did wake up with the stark realisation that I now am a quarter century old.
Continual Change
With that, I figured it’d be good time for some reflections. So much has changed for me over the years. From living in three different countries, and many more towns and cities, learning and forgetting languages, picking up a myriad of instruments, only to move on to another, and so on. Change has been integral to my life on a fairly large scale and somehow I’ve always found myself in states of flux.
It’s no wonder then that I find comfort in the constant. I’m not averse to change but constants have a way of anchoring you, particularly when you sometimes find yourself questioning the concept of home. Indeed, the cliché of “home is where the heart is” rings true in my life since home hardly is a fixed place.
Constant of Books
Besides my family, the longest constant in my life surely is books. I grew up surrounded by books before I could even read. While the languages of my books have transited from French to German to English to multilingual, stories have been my constant companions and for that I’m grateful.
Books obviously also are what led me to join the online book community. First via blogging, then Twitter and Instagram. It’s been such a pleasure to meet so many people from around the world and it warms my heart to have received so many well-wishes today.
Thank You!
Now, where am I going with this? I don’t really know. In a roundabout way, I suppose I’m hoping that the book blogosphere and bookstagram will be another constant in my life at least for a few more years to come. The beauty of the Internet is that location doesn’t matter. We can take this means of connection almost wherever we go.
So, at the end of the day, if you’ve connected with me before, I’d like to say, thank you for making me feel welcome in this space!
Happy belated birthday! I hope you had a lovely day itself as well as when you celebrated with your loved ones.
As we get older birthdays kind of just seem like a regular day, don’t they? I’m 25 next year and I’m sure it will be full of reflections, especially seen as my 20’s have been quite life changing years.
It’s funny that you speak of your constant, alongside your family, as books because often times non book loving folk don’t really get the connection we have when it comes to books… It may sound silly, but they’re almost a family of our own, if that makes sense.
I hope the book community remains a constant with you too for a good few years to come!
A belated happy birthday, Josephine! 25 is a very good age to be ;) Hope you have another amazing year ahead, one filled with adventures – in real life and in books <3
Happy Belated Birthday! That cookie looks delicious! 25 is interesting I think… I felt I grew up a little bit more than year.
Thank you, Amy! I’m very curious already what 25 will bring ;)
Happy birthday Jo! Somehow I missed this, but I shall throw confetti for you anyway ;)
Thank you, Kayla! Confetti’s always welcome :D
Happy birthday, Joséphine!! I hope you’re having/had an amazing day with loved ones, books, and all the good things in life. :)
Thank you, Sophie! I did have a good day :)
The older you get, the less you give a damn about celebrating your birthday, haha. It used to be an exciting day, something you looked forward to and now it’s just a regular day. I always try to make it festive though, because it’s still something I want to celebrate. Happy 25 years :)! May the book blogosphere be as consistent as your love for books, because it’s great to have you around.
Thank you, Mel! I’ve never been that big on birthday celebrations anyway. I remember during my first year in uni, my friends had to coax me out of my dorm room. Lol. But yes, I do like to mark the day with something special, even if it’s something small.