How to bake a cake

“For this project, you will design and build a cardboard maquette for a monument that represents an event, person(s), idea or object (significant or insignificant). Your monument should ‘represent’ someone or something, whether that be a physical likeness or a conceptual depiction. You may use only two materials to build your maquette: cardboard and hot glue.”

Step 4: taste

The day you call your birthday is really a day to remember your continuation. Every day you are alive is a continuation day. Within your body, birth and death are always taking place. We are coming into existence and going out of existence at every moment of our life.
                                                                                   - Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Living

I’m always a little sad on my birthday, but why is that? A birthday is supposed to be a happy occasion, a celebration of another revolution around the sun, so why am plagued by these negative emotions?

In many ways, a birthday is just like any other day. Coming to that realization on a day that’s supposed to be extra special can be disheartening and disappointing. I realized that I always expect birthdays to be a special day to some degree. Even when I don’t expect anything, there’s always a tiny, secret part of me that expects the day to be special, that wants the day to be special. But, when the day comes and I have to go to class like any other day, do homework like any other day, and work like any other day, I am struck by a mixture of disappointment, self-pity, and sadness.

This is all very dramatic of me, I realize. Just because a birthday is like any other day, it doesn’t mean its not worthy of celebration. If anything, it means that every day should be celebrated! In a world that’s increasingly hard to navigate, getting through each day is a feat to be acknowledged. Instead of a reminder that your birthday is just a day, happy day! is a celebration of all the days that aren’t your birthday, because every day is special if you believe it to be so.