33 – Jamieson Diaries

Yesterday I turned 33 years old. Celebrating my birthday has always meant the world to me. I’ve never taken lightly the privilege to grow another year older (or people celebrating me LOL). It’s a privilege many of us take for granted so I try to always remember growing older is a blessing. I always hear people refer to their 33rd birthday as their Jesus or Pippen year. However, I’m going to call this my “Soul” year. Yes, Soul as in after the popular Disney movie released last year. Let me explain in more detail.

I recently watched Soul again and the message resonated with me even more this time around. This is about my 3rd or 4th time watching it but it really clicked for me this time around. Maybe watching it close to the big 33, and after reading some deeply revealing books has forced me to see things in another light. Whatever it may be I’m thankful for the revelation.

Soul Year:

Much of my time these last few years has been rooted in my identity. Not necessarily who I am because thankfully I haven’t been confused about who I am for the last few years. More so the why. Trying to find the answer to the popular question “what’s my purpose?” or “why am I here?”. If you haven’t seen the movie Soul (you’re missing out) the basis of the movie is the main character trying to convince himself that playing music is his passion. However, once he gets the gig of his dreams he realizes it didn’t feel as great as he expected it to. The movie breaks down our need for purpose and how the idea of purpose is false.

All of this to say, our purpose in this life is in the every day moments of living it. One of the scenes that resonated with me was stopping to smell the crisp fall air and admire the beautiful fall leaves. If you can’t tell by my blog and/or social media, fall is my absolute favorite season. The connection I feel to fall is one way I’m leaning into my “soul year”.

9/27/21:

Yesterday I spent the entire day doing what brings me joy. I bought my favorite iced coffee drink from Dunkin
Donuts. Followed by a bike ride surrounded by beautiful trees at my favorite area on base. I went to pick up my birthday gift from my Mom and came home to a beautiful custom made birthday cake from a friend. Ate lunch from my favorite seafood restaurant before heading out to a much needed pain management massage (gift from the husband). Drove back home to one of my favorite playlists, changed into our fall clothes, and headed to the pumpkin patch in my favorite Shreveport neighborhood. I ended the night with friends who’ve become family over food and tons of laughter. In between all of this happiness I received face times, phone calls, text messages, and social media posts from my favorite people in the world.

This year of soul will be a major one. 33 is going to be a transformative year for me. Transformative for so many great reasons and seasons. Although I’m calling this my soul year this is now a soul chapter for me. I’m leaning into the time spent with my husband and my girls. I’m leaning into reading my Bible and reading books because they bring me joy. Going on bike rides and walks, surrounded by beautiful trees, and breathing in the crisp air. And although there will be frustrating days, my goal is to recognize when the frustrations are unreasonable or a part of life that can’t be controlled. However, what I can control is taking time to appreciate the simple pleasures of happiness in my life.