WHEN I was younger, I always looked forward to birthdays. Birthdays meant parties, which also meant cake, games and gifts, which meant more toys and, even, money for me. Birthdays were so much fun when I was still a kid. All you had to look forward to were the party and the gifts. Birthdays as a kid were so simple, so uncomplicated.

It becomes different when you get older though. Priorities and expectations became different when I got older. Suddenly, birthdays are those days when one broke out of the mundane world of routine and indulged in something new. Suddenly, birthdays become an excuse to go out and have a good time. Now tell me, since when have birthdays become an excuse for anything? Birthdays are supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be a celebration.

But what’s worse is that sometimes I’ve come to the point where I do dread the arrival of my birthday. Maybe it’s because I have to face the reality of “turning a year older” that entails more responsibility and emphasizes the uncertainty of my life and my future. Maybe it’s because birthdays mean spending too much on things I can’t really afford. Maybe it’s because I know someday, soon, I’ll have to face reality, my reality, the reality of finally doing something tangible with my life.

What are birthdays anyway? What are they supposed to be? They’re supposed to be celebrations of the past year and the beginning of a new one. They’re supposed to be the event that forces you to look back at the past year. They’re supposed to be the event that forces you to reflect on your life and what you’ve done the past year. But do we really do that? When birthdays come, do we sit down at some point in the day and just think about what happened during the year?

But in the end, I know birthdays are just like a good but long book. I continue reading it just to get it over and done with. But when I look back after finishing it, I realize it really is a good book and I can’t wait to read it again but not yet. Maybe someday I’ll read it again. But for now, I’ll try reading other books first. And by the time I read that book again, I’ll have a different perspective due to my exposure to other books and other genres I read before and after it.

Last week, I celebrated my birthday and I tried to look back at the past year. I realized I did a lot of things followed through on some of it but never really accomplished anything concrete. And that is the reason I am doing this.

This online magazine/journal/column is one of the things I will be busy with to make a name for myself and to make my future certain. I present to you, Musings!

Musings will initially be written by me to give me a chance to determine the reader response. It will be a bi-weekly publication and new articles will come out every 2nd and 4th week of every month.

I hope you enjoy Musings' very first issue and article. Please let me know what you think of it and Musings by leaving me a message through the comment boxes provided by HaloScan or through private e-mail provided by Yahoo.

Thanks and good day, everyone!

Jax :: 9:47 PM ::

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