Yes, it was rather a momentous event in my personal life. Sixty . . . That’s the number on the door leading away from “middle age” and into the final years of one’s life. Realistically (and hopefully), I probably have 20-30 years left in this life.
That’s an especially sobering thought given that I’ve now spent 32 years living in the U.S. That’s over half my life. In some ways, my arrival here from Australia in 1994 does not seem like 30+ years ago. Will the next (and final) 30 pass as quickly? And what will they hold for me as my body (and maybe even my mind) embarks on its inevitable decline?
Such thoughts and questions are only natural at milestone birthdays like 60. But I’ve made the very conscious decision to not obsess about them. Instead, I’ve chosen to enter into my 60th year and beyond in a spirit of gratitude, in part because I take to heart Yung Pueblo’s wise words: “You attract what’s inside you – so fill yourself with peace, gratitude, compassion, generosity, kindness, balance, and emotional intelligence.” . . . Amen brother!
As has been the tradition at The Wild Reed, I mark the occasion of my birthday by sharing a song, prayer and/or reflection that I find particularly meaningful; that speaks to where I’m at on my journey.*
I chose this song because its lyrics mirror a reality I’ve been thinking and praying about for some time now. And this reality, this truth, is that the many terrible things we’re witnessing in the world today are, at a very basic level, caused by people not experiencing love in their lives. This lack of love could be due to their own actions or the actions of others.
It can even get projected and manifested in public policy, resulting in great harm and damage to people’s lives, communities, the environment, and democracy. We’re witnessing this play out in the U.S., and the figure currently presiding over this lovelessness is Donald Trump, a profoundly damaged (broken) individual, an individual who I doubt has ever known real love in his life.
Of course, there are other reasons and factors, and other people, that are playing a range of roles in the terribly loveless things happening in our world. But I still maintain that a major cause of all this lovelessness is people who have never known love, or who are lacking love, choosing to respond in ways that project outward their misery and hurt.
And when I encounter someone who is clearly not experiencing love in their life and thus possibly tempted to project (or actually projecting) their lovelessness and hurt out onto others, then I pause, focus on the love inside of me, and, remembering that we are all ultimately one, give that love within “all up to you,” in the words of Fantastic Negrito. This giving may take many forms – a smile, a helping hand, some money, my time and attention to simply sit and listen. It can also mean lovingly saying No!, and working to name, halt, and undo the harm that loveless people, including political figures, are doing in our world today.
I hope somebody’s loving you
In the deepest ways
I hope somebody’s loving you
Every night and day
’Cause if nobody’s loving you
I know this may sound kinda strange
I’d give it all up to you
I’d give it all up to you
I hope somebody’s kissing you
In the sweetest places
I hope somebody’s missing you
Every time you go away
And I hope somebody’s digging you
And not digging your grave
I’d give it all up to you
I’d give it all up to you
C’mon and tell me everything
That I ever wanted to hear
And I’d give it all up to you
C’mon tell me everything
Tell me everything
And I’ll give it all up to you
Tell me everything
That I ever wanted to hear
And I’ll give it all up to you
I could really love you
Yes, I could really love you
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I’d give it all up to you
I hope somebody’s loving you
In the sweetest ways
I hope somebody’s loving you
Every night and day
I’ve noted and discussed previously how an important activity that centers me in an awareness of God is spending time with people I love and who love me; people who make a positive and transformative difference in my life. In celebrating my 60th birthday, I spent time with a number of such people, as you’ll see in the following images.
As always, it was great to see and hear her, and I continue to thank God for her ongoing recovery from the stroke she experienced back in April. In particular, I’m grateful for the ways that she is participating in this recovery through her chosen attitudes and actions. As I’ve said previously, they are attitudes and actions of grace and gratitude, surrender and trust. I’m grateful too for those in her life who are helping facilitate mum’s healing – our family, her friends, and the staff at the assisted living home where she now resides.
I’m incredibly proud of Deandre and the ways he is working to build a new life for himself in Las Vegas. It hasn’t been easy – work that provides a livable wage has been hard to find, along with affordable housing. For a while Deandre was living in his car. And he had to give his beloved cat Tyga to someone else to care for on a permanent basis. But, like I said, Deandre’s been doing his best to turn things around and establish stability and consistency in his life, especially in relation to work, budgeting, and housing. So, yeah, I’m very proud of my mate Deandre, and so happy he called me on my birthday.
For quite a while now I’ve noticed on Thursdays when I drive from my home in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis to the hospital I work at in Coon Rapids, a group of people on a pedestrian walkway that spans Interstate 94 in the Prospect Park neighborhood close to my home. I could tell by their signs and banners (above) that they were protest the increasingly fascist rhetoric and actions of the Trump administration.
It’s been years since I attended a weekly morning protest, and so since my birthday this year was on a Thursday, a Thursday I was taking off from work, I decided I would join the folks on the predestrian walkway. I mean, after all, they definitely looked like they’d be my kind of people! And what better way to start my 60th year of life than by taking a stand against the fascist power grab of Trump and his billionaire buddies?
My dear friend Kate, who was in town from northern Wisconsin for my birthday, joined me in this early morning protest. You might recall that Kate and I travelled to New Hampshire in January of last year to campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson in the Granite State’s “First in the Nation” presidential primary.
In talking to those who gather every Thursday on the Prospect Park predestian walkway over I-94, we learnt that they are all from the local neighborhood and have been meeting and protesting in this way since the early days of Trump’s second term. They even hosted a “No Kings” event on the walkway on October 18. They were a very welcoming and inspiring group of people, and both Kate and I remarked later that our time with them was a great way to start the day.
Right: Later in the day, Kate gifted me with something very special: an hourlong session at Sanctuary Float Spa in Minnetonka. Here in a private float suite complete with its own shower and dressing area, I enjoyed the benefits of “float therapy.” It was an incredibly relaxing “zero-gravity” experience, and one that was also surreal as I opted to float for an hour in total darkness and with no “new age” music softly playing.
Right: For the occasion, I made a Jamaican pumpkin soup (with added vegetables) and served it with fresh bread. It was a great hit!
Right: With Angie and Bryan at the Urban Growler Brewing Company in St. Paul.
We ended our evening at W.A. Frost & Company in the beautiful Cathedral Hill neighborhood of St. Paul, where this post’s opening image of me was taken by Angie!
From left: Nikki, Maddie, me, Jenna, Kari, Steph (whose October birthday we were also celebrating) and Kate.
* As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, it’s somewhat of a tradition to mark my birthday here at The Wild Reed by sharing a song or prayer or reflection that I find particularly meaningful. On my 44th birthday, for instance, I shared Stephan Gately’s performance of “No Matter What,” and when I turned 45 I shared “Where the Truth Lies” by the band Exchange.
In 2012, when I turned 47, I shared a prayer for balance at a very trying time, not only for myself, but for many of us here in Minnesota.
Eleven years ago, on the first day of my fiftieth year, I shared a “guidepost on the journey,” and then one year later on the day of my 50th birthday, I shared Buffy Sainte-Marie’s rousing “It’s My Way.”
In 2017, when I turned 52, I shared a poem by John O’Donohue; while on my 53rd birthday I shared “Love Is,” a beautiful meditation on the mystery of love by my favorite male vocalist Carl Anderson.
The year I turned 54 I shared “This Is the Time,” a beautiful song by Senegalese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Daby Touré, and when I turned 55 it was Black’s “Wonderful Life” that encapsulated much of what I found myself experiencing at that time.
When I turned 56 I shared Dusty Springfield’s reflective recording “Home to Myself,” while on my 57th birthday I shared the song “The Long Ride Home” by Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri.
In 2023 when I turned 58, I shared an “Anchoring Prayer” by Joyce Rupp, while last year for my 59th birthday, I shared Loreena McKennit’s beautiful song, “Never-ending Road (Amhrán Duit).”
I hope somebody’s loving you
In the deepest ways
I hope somebody’s loving you
Every night and day
’Cause if nobody’s loving you
I know this may sound kinda strange
I’d give it all up to you
See also the previous Wild Reed birthday posts:
• Birthday Musings (2024)
• A Prayer of Anchoring (2023)
• Deeper Understandings (2022)
• Home to Myself (2021)
• Moments of Wonder (2020)
• This Is the Time (2019)
• With Love Inside (2018)
• On This “Echoing-Day” of My Birth (2017)
• Turning 50 (2015)
• A Guidepost on the Journey (2014)
• In the Eye of the Storm, a Tree of Living Flame (2012)
• Journeying Into the Truth . . . Valiantly, of Course (2010)
• No Matter What (2009)
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