Come Celebrate with Me by Amy Warntz

With a bit of curiosity, I opened the envelope. Inside held a colorful invitation with balloons and confetti sprinkled on the front. Hmmm, I thought...a birthday party? I honestly thought my days of attending birthday parties had long expired.

“Please join us to celebrate Nicolle’s 50th birthday! Shhh...it’s a surprise!

There have been a lot of celebrations lately, milestone celebrations: high school graduations, college graduations, 50th birthday parties, weddings, and anniversaries. In fact, when I think of the word celebration, these are types of events that come to mind ever so quickly.

But in actuality, celebrations are all around us, every.single.day! We just need to slow down and take the time to notice. Yes, notice!

Daylilies that have finally bloomed. Sporting their vibrant colors of yellow and orange, celebrating the arrival of a warm summer day.

Birds gathering together, serenading the morning sun, celebrating the arrival of a new day.

A warm, soft breeze that wisps the branches of the willow tree back and forth, back and forth, celebrating the gentle calmness of the lazy afternoon.

Or perhaps the fragrant honeysuckle perfuming the nose, celebrating the delicate smells of a humid summer evening.

Celebrations, a form of noticing. Noticing and leading me to my journal, my writing journal. A place for me to capture, cherish and relive what it is I want to celebrate, what I want to remember.  Big celebrations like the surprise 50th surprise birthday party or small celebrations that I encompass just sitting in the quiet presence of nature.

So it is, writing is an invitation. An invitation to celebrate those noticings. Whether it’s big or small, the reward is in the writing just waiting for the writer in you to celebrate all that life has to offer!

Won’t you join me?


Amy Warntz is a Reading Specialist for striving readers in grades 4-6. She is passionate about creating lifelong readers and writers. When she’s not sharing her love for reading and writing, you’ll more than likely espy her with her sneakers laced running mile after mile training for her next race. She is also a proud mother to her daughter, Madelyn, who just graduated from college. You can find out about all of Amy’s life musings on her blog, Runner, Reader, and Rockin’ Mom, catch up with her on Twitter at iRuniRead, or hop on over to Instagram at my.simple.little.life .