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Ask HN: How do you celebrate your birthday?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you celebrate your birthday?

#21

Post by adonese »

vfiftyfive wrote: post #18

When you're a child, birthdays are important because this is how you grow up. As a young adult, it's important for your social life. As a mid-life adult, it's depressing, because it's one more year closer to death...my birthday is now a source of anxiety, so I just don't celebrate it. But still happy to receive a present, which never happens anymore, sadly!

I will be happy to give you a video call and celebrate with you your next birthday. You can send me your birthday via my email (me at adonese dot sd)

Re: Ask HN: How do you celebrate your birthday?

#25

Post by kimburgess »

boris wrote: post #20

Last year we were holidaying in Drakensberg (mountaneous area in South Africa) and for my birthday I've decided to run the "Big 5" hike which involves climbing five hills in the area (it's at Cavern). About 20k with ~2000m elevation gain. Took me 4 hours and I was pretty much dead at the end, but the best birthday gift I gave myself, ever!

Highly recommend this style of celebration. My partner and I have made a habit of some form of interesting travel for major birthdays---Everest (just base camp), Svalbard, caving in NZ, etc. Other years just a local trek or hillclimb.

It doesn't need to be expensive (the above had high flight costs, but the remainder was below sustenance spend if we were at home). The goal is to do something well removed from normal daily experience as it creates a nice memory anchor for that point in time.

Re: Ask HN: How do you celebrate your birthday?

#26

Post by serf »

dusted wrote: post #7

I don't celebrate it, and I don't want anything special to happen. I tend to get somewhat melancholic about this token day, marking another year of life has gone, an entire year less left. I find that I get more so if celebrating it and left tired in the evening.. So I just prefer to ignore it and try not to think about it.

same here.

I tend to mope around a bit while everyone around me tries to be nice. It makes me feel immature, but whatever; I don't think a single day of immaturity is going to bother anything. It feels somehow cathartic.

Re: Ask HN: How do you celebrate your birthday?

#27

Post by arnvald »

I take a day off to avoid the akward feeling of having my co-workers singing "happy birthday" to me.

Besides that I don't really celebrate it. I enjoy celebrating achievements, like some success at work or a big milestone in my side project. Surviving yet another year on earth is not really an achievement (I mean, I've done it more than 30 times already), but maybe I'll start treating it as an achievement once I turn 80.

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