A Beautiful Use of Time

Today is my 50th birthday. People have asked me how it feels, and I’ve discovered that birthdays don’t always arrive with clear answers. Instead, they’ve given me a reason to pause..

Life has a way of carrying us from one season to the next. There is work to do, people to care for, meals to prepare, gardens to tend, books waiting to be read, music waiting to be heard, and ideas asking for our attention. Before we realize it, another year has passed, and we wonder where the time went.

As I look back over the past fifty years, I don’t find myself counting accomplishments. I find myself remembering people. I remember conversations that changed how I saw the world, places that made me feel small in the best possible way, songs that carried me through different seasons, books that challenged my thinking, and moments in nature that reminded me how much beauty exists when I slow down long enough to notice it.

The older I become, the more I appreciate that a meaningful life isn’t built in the highlights. It’s built in the ordinary rhythms that shape us over time. We rarely recognize those moments while we’re living them, yet they become the stories we carry with us.

That realization has changed the way I think about success. I still love meaningful work. I still enjoy building ideas, solving problems, and learning something new every chance I get. Those things are part of who I am. At the same time, I’ve come to value something just as much. I want to experience my life while I’m living it. I want to notice the first tomato in the garden, the comfort of an old song, the warmth of sharing a meal with people I love, and the quiet satisfaction that comes from ending the day knowing I was fully present for it.

Perhaps that’s what soul has come to mean to me. It isn’t something distant or difficult to find. It is found in the way we pay attention to our lives. It is present in gratitude, curiosity, kindness, beauty, and the willingness to keep learning. It reminds us that the richest parts of life are often the ones we cannot measure.

As I begin this next decade, I don’t feel the need to become someone new. I simply hope I continue becoming more fully myself. I hope I remain curious, keep asking thoughtful questions, continue creating spaces where people feel welcome, and never lose my appreciation for the beauty woven into everyday life.

Fifty feels less like arriving somewhere and more like receiving another invitation to live well.

After all, our lives are not made from a handful of memorable days. They are made from thousands of ordinary ones, and each of them offers another opportunity to learn, to love, to create, and to be present.

That feels like a beautiful use of time.

There’s No Place Like Soul 🪴