40 YEARS.
40. I find this to be a round, robust, strong number. A solid number. A number to celebrate!
I know. In our culture, turning 40 is not necessarily something to brag about. For many, such a hefty number represents only the unstoppable passing of time that surprises us at every turn of the highway and reminds us of our own mortality. But for me - a woman decided on counting her life not by the clocks tick toc, but by the boom boom of my heart resonating with the hearts of others that have touched and been touched - for me, it is reason for celebration.
That is why I invited many over to my house, to share the afternoon of a beautiful day. Maybe they didn't all know eachother. Perhaps they didn't seem to have much in common. Who knows? Maybe some even hate eachother. But for me, each one of them, and many of you, readers, is a blessing. Each a motive to measure my life not in minutes, nor hours, nor forties.
Many of you know that I expect to live many years. More than a hundred, I have always said. I can´t be sure whether by the time I reach that century of existence, I may be asking for even more.
I truly welcome you all to my home. To this space in which the naked eye will see only a certain mess, too much stuff and a place that really looks lived in. We inhabit far beyond what you might see, beyond this physical space, in the crooks and spaces others have opened up to us in their private worlds. We are a family without walls. Rubén and the three jewels I have for sons are my refuge and my reason. In them I find a fascinating, complex and wonderful interior world. It is an infinite universe, full of radiance, in which we walk together, making music and living every instant of life.
Maybe today I feel so much like celebrating, precisely because I have an invaluable partner, a 10 year old wiseman, a whirlwind going on 7 and a 12 year old gentleman riding beside me. Perhaps it's just that my soul never stands still, and it wants nothing short of everything. Perhaps, because I have the pleasure of having all of you, and perhaps because I anticipate what is to come. Anyway, thanks for bearing witness to my coming of age, my dear leading men and ladies, travel companions.
The fact is, I feel better than ever for these 40 years.
Let´s see what doors open up to us now!
