Here it is. My birthday. The looming three-five is no longer “looming” but heavy on my lap. This 35th birthday is an unwelcome guest whose arrival I anticipated with some years of building terror. Now that it is here though, the self-reflection and thoughtfulness has paid off and on this day I arrive brilliant and beaming, wearing my most-favorite afternoon party dress and grateful for life just as it is. Intending too in my most deliberate of intentions to step into “35” with grace and to enjoy life in a kind of explosive way. Yes, that’s it—more explosive and less implosive. Dream large. Experience mountain tops. Joy. Love. The thin air of altitude and the thick, ruddy mud of depth. Today I embark on the first day of the rest of my life. I expect brilliance and openness and ecstasy at every turn. Let it be so. Happy birthday to me.