It's my birthday! Celebrations, even while confined

It's my birthday!!! And while I would have preferred hosting a bunch of friends and family over as I love to do, I can't. This doesn't stop me from celebrating.

Here again, prison residents have shown me that my circumstances do not dictate my celebration. They know how to get creative! And find replacements for rituals, like blowing out candles.

In addition to redefining how we celebrate milestones, let’s also take a moment to recognize the power of also celebrating the daily small steps. Milestones are a collection of successful small steps. The journey to the milestones is not only a lot more fun, but also a lot more easeful, when it’s sprinkled with regular acknowledgement and celebration. We recognize that whatever the outcome, we've done the best we can. This is worth celebrating!

Invitation: How have you celebrated yourself today?

This is part of a series. You see, on April 1st, I realized that I have a unique perspective into confinement thanks to my past 4.5 years engaging several times a week with the world's leading experts on confinement: prison residents. For the month of April, I will provide a daily lesson learned in prison that will hopefully help us to survive and even thrive while confined to our homes. Go forward and back to enjoy each daily lesson.