Won't You Celebrate With Me?

Won't You Celebrate With Meby Lucille Clifton
won't you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life? i had no model.
born in babylon
both nonwhite and woman
what did i see to be except myself?
i made it up
here on this bridge between
starshine and clay,
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.

This is an oft-quoted poem. But I never get tired of it, ever. I believe in its message. Especially the end "come celebrate/with me that everyday/something has tried to kill me/and has failed." Considering the last couple of weeks, considering the last couple of battles I've had with self and career and purpose...Those words really hit home.

There's this thing I started at the beginning of the year. I had just come back from a couple of weeks at home and felt a little weary about my future in the Northeast, and what work I was going to be doing, and about writing and life. I decided that in 2008 my motto would be "It's a new year and I'm a grown ass woman." I also remember this one night at a friend's house in Brooklyn, I got this feeling to celebrate. I was like, "I feel like we should celebrate in advance what this year is going to bring". They kind of looked at me like I was crazy. And nodded their head. I said, "I think this is going to be an amazing year and I should just celebrate in advance."

So, that's what I did. I celebrated. And things in a lot of ways just sort of fell into place. So I continued that tradition and found reason to celebrate, and often...and blessings just kept coming.

Today I'm having some friends over to "celebrate"....sort of close out the year, celebrate people in my life...celebrate the gifts we're about to receive and open up the new 2009 year, which I feel is going to be even more amazing than this one. Yep.

Won't you celebrate with me today?