I must admit, I was in a bad mood about my birthday this year leading up to it. It wasn’t an age issue or anything, it was more the stresses of the rest of my life were weighing heavy and I didn’t want to deal with the coordinating and entertaining of people for an annual celebration. But after reading Jennie T’s post on birthdays and a bestie talk about what was really going on with me, I found new inspiration in the celebrating of my birth.

I generally love my birthday because I’m quite into celebrating. Why not- celebrations are fun! And if it’s about me, fantastic. This year though, I wanted my form of celebration to consist of alone time, mostly because I require alone time to get energy and both alone time and energy have been scarce lately. It wasn’t that I was anti-birthday or anti-celebrating with others, but when I only have a few days home with potential for down time, I want to seize. So, while having my annual dinner with loved ones did have appeal, I was so concentrated on this taking away from my solo recharge that I wasn’t quite excited about celebrating.

But after reading Jennie’s post on birthdays, I was reminded of how much fun I have in sharing celebrations with friends. So, I reached out to a dear friend, and we talked it out. It turns out I was upset and stressed about things in life and taking it out on my birthday. As we worked through how I was feeling about other things, my birthday gathering became less and less the villain. And then, my friend pointed out:

People are opting to celebrate in your birthday. . . see the love in that!

She was totally right. It’s hard enough to get two people together among schedules and such, so to get an entire group of people I truly love to come together, that’s amazing. I started to see the love in people not coming because we’re going to party or because they need to eat dinner, they come out of love for me. That’s pretty awesome.

I’m glad my friend helped me get a fresh perspective. At my core, I love celebrating life and being surrounded with love and people I care about. And I am so lucky that people want to share in my celebrations and come together for me. Here’s to a happy birthdays, happy friends, happy thanks, and happy life.

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Have you ever held a newborn baby? If not, I recommend you do. There’s something about holding a newborn, looking into their eyes, just being with them. . . it’s like all you want to do is hold them (and make sure they are breathing). It makes your past priorities seem silly, and faraway. Even when you don’t have any idea or reason why it’s all changed.

My new niece was born last month and I was lucky to get to spend time with her during her first days. Of course, I am a firm believer she is the most precious thing ever to come on this earth, but I’m sure all parents and adorers of their own sweet little babies think the same of their baby. But besides being cute, babies are enchanting. When newborn, they don’t do a whole lot. They sleep, drink milk, sleep, sometimes briefly open their eyes, and sleep some more. But you want to be there as they do this routine. Work goes out of mind and staring at a sleeping baby seems to be the best thing ever.

Why? Perhaps it’s the simplicity and straightforwardness of their life. They are upset when their body is uncomfortable or needs something. We get upset by the time of day, day of the week, color in front of us, that some guy took our parking spot, etc. Babies just want to develop and be loved. Really, they cry to be held and have affection. We play weird games and dance around the issue and don’t admit that we, too, want to be loved. Babies are learning from all around them and fascinated by simple things like the amazingness of their hand. We beg for constant stimulation, even if mindless, we still look for bright colors on a television and some sort of story to play out in front of us.

Maybe new babies are so fascinating to us because they contrast us in the most peaceful way possible. They remind us to slow down, sleep, and smile for nothing. They teach us that superficial things aren’t important, but health, security, and love are key. So again, if you haven’t spent time with a new baby, do so. They have lessons for us we can all use some reminding of.

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Whether you’re into sneakers or Nike or neither, the process they go through in the Innovation Kitchen is inspiring. I recently saw a youtube video on their new Hyperfuse technology and a peek on its development in the Innovation Kitchen. They may not turn food out of this kitchen, but a lot of other goodness is cooked up.

In Nike’s Innovation Kitchen, different backgrounds, minds, and experts and minds, from materials experts, designers, and bio-mechanists, work in a shared area, separated from the day-to-day grind of production, marketing, and selling. The intention of the lab is to allow for innovation and Nike’s Tinker Hatfield has explained, “We’re not so much tied into the sales of shoes. We’re here to improve athletic performance.” There they all get to incubate new ideas, collaborate, share, develop, test, experiment, play, and create. They work with what they’re inspired by and can in turn inspire other Nike members across other product segments and lines. New technology is made and creative endeavors grow.

The Nike Hyperfuse technology, where materials bonded together through heat and pressure instead of stitching, took about 2 years to develop for basketball shoes. Once developed there, the research and information were passed along so other designers and segments could use Hyperfuse for their shoes, sports, and products they work on. So many observations went into coming up with Hyperfuse and its birth came from thoughts of how to make things better and improve on how basketball shoes are put together. It’s great to see so much thought goes into a shoe, is tweaked with the end user in mind, and is passed along so other developers can use, too. Can you imagine how much greatness would come out if we all took such pride in what we make and really put thought into it?

Watch the video with Shane Kohatsu, Nike Basketball Innovation Lead, and Ben Shaffer, Innovation Lead for Nike Sportswear, walk through thoughts and process with Hyperfuse, and get as inspired as I am by it.

Also check out the animated video walking through Shane and Ben’s sharing.

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It’s that time again: graduation season. That time between May and June where supermarkets display “Dads and Grads!” paraphernalia, families make plans, pictures are snapped, and new chapters begin. Beyond “Pomp and Circumstance” or caps and gowns, there are a lot of sentiments and thoughts being shared and reflected on. If you haven’t attended a graduation this year, or even if you have, take a lil’ something from one I’ve recently been to.

At my cousin’s recent UofA graduation, Savannah Guthrie, new co-host of the “Today Show,” former NBC News White House correspondent, and the graduation ceremony speaker, set the tone so I could take in all that was going on there. She had great advice for the graduates, but was also engaging, relaxed, and pleasant, making for a good vibe. As Guthrie told the graduating students to “be afraid” as, “a little bit of fear is good for you, for the simple reason that it leads to over-preparation,” I thought about the role fear has in my life. She continued with, “Believe you might succeed more wildly than you ever imagined.” I thought about my own successes, both achieved and yet to come. Guthrie also advised, “Seek out uncomfortable situations,” so you may work through them to get what you really want, “Don’t settle,” and, “Slow down.” Good points for the graduates to take in, but true words at any stage.

I listened to Guthrie, but as my human brain would have it, my mind wandered in and out and I reflected on the people around me. Young adults, as well as older adults, were marking the end of a chapter. They were celebrating finally being done, whether it was with many proud achievements or just getting by and anxious to get out. Parents were reflecting back when they were in those seats, or admiring how their child was surpassing their own accomplishments at that age. Younger friends looked up to when they might be at their own graduation in the future, and family members smiled with pride taking over as processions went on. And there were those like me: reflecting on what was going on as it translated to my current life. Good advice is good advice, and commencement not only means: “A ceremony in which degrees or diplomas are conferred on graduating students,” it also means beginning and start. We may only have a few graduations to celebrate, but we always have the chance for new beginnings.

Here’s to always starting new, and for the lovely endings to come. Congratulations to the class of 2011, and to all of those celebrating their own successes.

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