April 13, 2026
I'm always a little surprised when people don't make a big deal about their birthdays. You know, the kind of people who shrug it off with, "Oh, just another day." Meanwhile, I'm over here shouting, "It's my birthday! It's my birthday MONTH."
I love birthdays, and March is when I go all in on celebrating myself. I am not sorry about it.
I think in our culture, we don't celebrate ourselves enough. And this gift of life, being here, breathing, experiencing this beautiful experience of humanity, that's pretty amazing when you stop to think about it.
Maybe it's my years of breathwork, or the fact that I've lost dear friends lately and witnessed how quickly things can change, but I consistently come back to this theme: let's not take any of it for granted.
Life. Let's cherish it.
We act as if it's all guaranteed. None of it is.
So, let's explore.
As I was reflecting on why birthdays feel so sacred to me, my parents came to mind first. When they were still here, they used to call me every year and tell me the story of my birth. They went over how they brought me home, how the day unfolded, every detail they could think of. It was this really amazing and loving ritual that I had for most of my life.
In Italy, where I was born, when a baby arrives, families hang big ribbons from the balcony to announce the birth. It's a big celebration and a declaration of new life. My parents were able to impart that sense of wonder and awe to me every single year—the beginning of a new life, celebrated again and again. That was a beautiful gift they gave me.
I think I've carried that ritual forward, and it shapes the way I approach my own birthday each year. In March, I timed a trip at the beginning of the month and stayed with a dear friend and her family. They treated me so lovingly, so graciously and generously. And I said yes to it all.
I've realized that's one of the reasons we may struggle with celebrating ourselves: saying YES.
My number one passion this past March, according to my Passion Test, was to receive with open hands and open heart. It kind of surprised me, but as the month unfolded, it made perfect sense.
I've been spending a lot of time lately offering as much support as I can to friends who need me. I love being present for them, love spending time with them and helping them find comfort and pockets of joy. And the Passion Test was gently reminding me that I also need to let myself be supported so I don't get depleted.
For my birthday month, I let myself receive all of it. The dinners, the kindness, the generosity. And as I'm reflecting on it now, I feel such a strong warmth inside. It feels really, really good to receive! It feels really good to give to myself and my tank is getting replenished.
Why are we so shy or embarrassed about that? Why can’t we just say, "I love receiving!"?
And you know, after the trip I took, I came home to a week where every night somebody was taking me to dinner. I just kept saying yes and letting myself be loved. It was nourishing in a way that went beyond any single meal or gift.
It also prompted this reflection: what if I could celebrate myself at least once every month (not just my birthday month) and make sure I'm receiving regularly? I want to open myself to receive for no reason other than being alive.
What a concept!
How nourished would you feel if you gave yourself that kind of permission to receive regularly, with joy and love? How fulfilled would you be?
Everyone gets so excited about kid birthdays, don't they? The streamers, the cake, the fuss from adults. But somewhere around age ten, it's like the enthusiasm just drops off. We'll continue to celebrate milestones: turning 16, then 21. But then the celebrations get longer and longer. We celebrate turning 40, then 70 and 80.
What about all those years in between? By the time we're adults, many of us dismiss our own birthdays entirely.
Why? Why do we stop celebrating?
I think it goes deeper than birthdays. We've somehow absorbed the belief that we need achievements to be worthy of celebration. That just being here isn't enough. But the truth is, we ARE worthy of celebration simply because we exist.
(There's actually some interesting science about this to back me up, but it's too much to get into for one blog. Basically: none of us should exist. But thanks to a series of random cosmic happenings, we do. You're actually very, very special! If you're curious to learn more, here's a video about it.)
Life is magical (and statistically improbable), so we don't need to have accomplished something monumental to give ourselves the gift of acknowledgment and joy.
This is actually a theme I often weave into my breathwork sessions, this invitation to let ourselves receive and to remember how precious this life truly is.
Something else came up for me recently that I want to share. I heard this idea that when you receive from someone, you're actually allowing them to experience the act of giving. And I had two separate conversations in two days that brought this home.
One woman shared that her husband was upset because she kept returning all of his gifts. She didn't even exchange them; she just returned them. She couldn't see that she was robbing him of showing her love. In her family growing up, they didn't really give gifts and they were very frugal, so she had a lot of deep conditioning around it. When she finally realized what was happening, she was shocked.
Then the next day, a man told me he always tells people not to get him gifts. And I gently asked, "Do you realize you might be robbing them of the opportunity to show you love?"
He didn't, and decided to work on allowing others that experience.
"Well," you might say, "I actually don't like gifts." And I get it! We don't need to be caught up in material things, but sometimes when people give, it's such an act of love for them and they feel immense happiness from bringing YOU happiness. It's not even just about gifts. Sometimes it's simply support, a kind word, someone offering to help… When we push that away, we're closing a door that wants to be open.
We're robbing someone of the experience of giving and sharing happiness.
Why not give yourself permission to have pleasure?
Maybe your birthday (or a holiday, like Christmas) is the one day you give yourself permission to receive. If that's the case, I want to gently ask: why just one day?
I work with individuals and couples through my Life & Intimacy Coaching to help them incorporate more pleasure into their lives, and I'm not just talking about erotic pleasure (though that's important too). I mean pleasure, period. The pleasure of saying yes to dinner with a friend, or taking a trip that's just for you. Of having fun! The pleasure of letting yourself be celebrated, be seen, be loved.
Our bodies are wired for pleasure, and yet so many of us treat it like a luxury instead of a need. When we start giving ourselves regular doses of celebration and receiving, something shifts. We feel more alive, more connected, and more at home in ourselves.
It all starts with a simple yes. The next time someone gives you a gift, just say YES. Gently shoo away the thoughts that say, "You don't deserve this," "You're no one special," "Oh, they wasted their money on me." Say YES and accept the token of love.
And when someone offers to help, goes out of their way to do something nice, or shows generosity in any other way, don't think, just say YES.
Yes, I love receiving.
Here's what I want to leave you with: You don't have to wait for your birthday to celebrate yourself. You don't need a reason. You don't need an achievement. You are alive, and that alone is worth honoring.
If you're curious about uncovering what lights you up right now, The Passion Test is a beautiful place to start. It's how I discovered that receiving was my top passion for March. Once I had that clarity, it changed the way I moved through the month. Through intimacy coaching, I also help people reconnect with pleasure and learn to let more love in, from themselves and from others.
Want to explore what celebrating yourself could look like for you? Book a FREE 15-minute discovery session with me, and let's have a conversation about what you're craving more of in your life.
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