A birthday held by nature, rest, and the simple truth of choosing yourself.

It takes a rare kind of energy to choose to spend your birthday alone. To step away from the norm, noise, and unspoken expectations we put on ourselves. The pressure to make your day look “special” rather than honouring yourself in a way that is real, grounded, and human.  

This year. I choose me. 

My 42nd trip around the sun alone.

Placing myself where it feels nourishing, steady, and good for the soul. 

I spent my Earth Day at Mojigao in Goa, a luxury eco-resort tucked deep into the tropical jungle. A slice of paradise that feels raw and alive. Unpolished in the most beautiful way. Where delicious cuisine meets live music in the evenings, where a lifestyle shop and a jungle-framed wellness spa sit calmly between the trees. Wooden boutique cottages hide between the green, and winding pathways pull you deeper into nature and into yourself. Birdsong. Stillness. Space.

It’s a place where your breath and body settles, and you arrive exactly as you are. You feel yourself shift here, softer, slower. I wandered the botanical gardens with no rush, letting the morning unfold honestly. Mojigao is the kind of space that holds you without asking for anything back. The perfect setting for a birthday that needed self-care, peace, and quiet. 

I gifted myself four hours at the Jaiivic Spa, reset and rejuvenation for mind, body, and spirit. My body softened and released as I allowed myself to receive care without rushing, without apologising, and without needing to earn it. It reminded me that deep rest isn’t indulgence. It’s coming home to your body. 

The rest of the day moved at its own rhythm, something our lives rarely allow. 

Later, I sat with good food, a cocktail, and a live singer, music that moved me. No pressure to talk or to entertain, just me, my breath, the music, and the warm evening. 

And in that simplicity, I realised:
Solitude isn’t emptiness.
It’s clarity.
It’s presence.
It’s peace. 

My intention is to live for me, without conditions or constant consideration. To stop editing myself to keep the peace. To move through the world from a place of truth rather than obligation. To give myself the space to choose what nourishes me without apology. 

We grow in the spaces we choose for ourselves. 

This year I wanted a birthday without performance, pretending, and entertaining. 

Many of us have a complicated relationship with our birthday. There seems to be so much expectation surrounding this day. We hold memories from childhood or previous birthdays gone wrong. Too many years pretending. Too many moments where the day felt heavier than it should. 

A solo celebration will strip all of it away. Bringing you back to the truth, to honour your life without an audience. 

A birthday alone doesn’t feel small; it feels honest.
Rooted.
Real. 

What I learnt is it’s the kind of grounding that reminds you that growing older is not a spectacle. It’s a quiet, powerful becoming. 

If you’ve never celebrated your birthday in solitude, truly in your own company, held by nature, away from the noise, maybe one day you will. Not to escape life, but to meet yourself more clearly. To see your year without comparison. To breathe into the person you are.

Sometimes the most meaningful birthdays are the ones no one else sees.

The ones where you let the earth be your witness. 

The ones that bring you back home to yourself.