Celebration as a practice? Really?
Yes, really.
What savasana is to yoga, celebration is to creative living.
In taking the time to celebrate, we let all that we’ve done, all that we’ve learned, sink into our very cells.
Yet it’s a step we skip over so readily. Sometimes we’re like magpies, off to the next shiny thing, excited about starting the cycle of creation again. Sometimes we’re too busy, so loaded down with to-dos and commitments that we can’t imagine taking time for something as frivolous as celebration. And sometimes we hold the bar too high, thinking the only thing worth celebrating is the thing we haven’t yet achieved.
Why do you skip celebration?
Just for a moment, imagine your inner creative 10-year-old. She’s just danced for you or learned to knit or proudly presented a poem. “Okay, sweetie. Now, get onto the next project.” “Ah, sorry, honey, I’ve got this call to make. I’ll catch you next time.” “Um… pretty good but let’s talk when you’ve really got that nailed.”
Ouch!!
Celebration builds confidence.
Instead of shutting down your creative heart by stepping over celebration, bolster your confidence by acknowledging what you’ve done! Every time you take a moment to notice and celebrate the steps you’ve taken, the risks you’ve dared, the goals you’ve achieved, the work you’ve created, the effort you’ve put in, the skills you’ve learned, the experience you’ve gained, you lock it into your heart and own it.
Celebration honours the work.
When we celebrate, we say that this work was worth doing. It’s a sign of respecting not only the effort and energy that you’ve put in but also the value of the task itself. When you gloss over the time you spent working on your photos or crafting that poem or finessing that dinner, you miss the opportunity to send love and respect to the art forms of photography and poetry and cooking.
Not every celebration needs to be toasted with champagne. It can be a quiet moment of reflection, a wink at yourself in the mirror, the decision to wear red, an ice cream sundae with sprinkles, an unbridled disco dance, a day in your pj’s. What feels like celebration to you?
Celebration honours the Universe.
Celebration is gratitude’s twin sister. It is a moment in time, a placing of your attention on the great good that is here and available in this world, that you are a part of and contributing to. When Mary Oliver asks us, “What will you do with your one wild and precious life?” look at your art journal, the necklace you beaded, the home you’ve created, the journal you’ve kept, the business you’ve started, the laundry you’ve folded, the garden you’ve tended and say, “This. I have spent a bit of my wild and precious life, on this.”
And that is worth celebrating.