Rights of Passage - I want a Personal Retreat

51rst Birthday Party

I turned 51 this year. I had a nice birthday party but otherwise turning 51 wasn't really a very remarkable milestone - I thought I was 51 already! A quick calculation proved otherwise. I don't mind. But 50 was also quite rather unremarkable - and I did want that to be a little special.

My Unremarkable 50th

Afterall, shouldn't there be some right of passage for passing half a century?! I wanted to celebrate by looking back and by looking forward. I wanted to have a "Personal Retreat". I did actually try... I sat on the porch looking over Matsushima Bay (not a bad idea in theory) and used these instructions but it was too hurried and much too much like "going through the steps"...

So this year I want to try again.

Someway, somehow I want to mark 50 years of life. And I want to try the personal retreat thing again in a way more suited to reflection.