February Feels

February light

February is such a beautiful and challenging month. It is still deep into winter for the northern half of the country. And for some that can be tough. But for me February has always felt special. Well okay, it is my birthday month, and yes, I am someone that LOVES my birthday and tries to celebrate in a special way each year. Maybe that comes from my mom. I always had special birthday parties whether it was your typical friends and cake and games, or my 8th birthday when we got to watch Mary Poppins on a real big screen in our basement. Plenty of birthday parties didn’t happen, because growing up in NY, there was a good chance of snowstorm or sickness. So the years that I got to celebrate always felt extra special! I remember my 21st birthday blizzard. I was living at home at the time, and my mom coming home from work with a bottle of bubbly for us to toast. My boyfriend at the time couldn’t make it the 10 minute drive to my house because of the blizzard so mom and I celebrated together.

This photo (my 21st birthday) screams 1980s. the hair, the cigarette and even the 8 track player in the background.

And now that I am getting even older each birthday means even more to me as I am grateful to still be celebrating. (And to still have my mom, who can literally send me any picture from my childhood that I ask for within 15 minutes of my asking.) This year was an exceptionally beautiful February day, blue skies and 25 degrees, so I celebrated with a 4 hour run and egg sandwiches for dinner with Michael.

The other lovely part of February is that suddenly and quietly there is more light! As I type this the sunrise is 6:45 and the sunset will be 5:25… whereas a month ago sunrise was 7:27 and sunset was 4:35. And I know for so many of us that alone can brighten so many winter moods. And while January always feels like 90 days long to me, February always feels like a blink. And yes, I know there are only 28 (or 29) days but it truly always feels shorter.

February is also the Lunar new year and while for some January signals the new year, I love to also acknowledge the Lunar new year and all the energy that it brings. (I am a Water Tiger, in case any of you are curious.) 2025 was the year of the Wood Snake and 2026 is the year of the Fire Horse. While I am certainly no expert on this, I just love the symbolism behind the animals and the elements. The Fire Horse year is viewed as energy, passion and transformation. And I feel like in January when I was looking at my 2025 the Wood Snake was shedding it’s skin, just as I was shedding what no longer served me, or the layers that I did not need to carry into the new year.

And February is also my “2 YEAR Substackiversary.” (Here is my first post just for fun!) I am still amazed and incredibly grateful that there are people out in the world, some that I know, but so many that I don’t know, who find my words entertaining, inspiring or useful. I am constantly surprised by which posts will resonate and how some will generate such meaningful comments. It honestly means so much when you click the little heart at the bottom of the page, or comment, or share my words with someone that you think might benefit from them. I also need to give a shout out to my online writing group (Lisa, Paula, Heather, Pia, Catherine and Stephanie). We also just celebrated 2 years of meeting every Thursday morning and I truly cherish that time.

Happy Birthday to me

So Happy February and Happy Year of the Fire Horse and thank you for helping to inspire me to keep writing!

Curious about what your Chinese zodiac sign is (animal and element)? It is based on your birth year. Here is a link and feel free to share in the comments if you like!

Thank you for being here with me today and reading my ramblings. Please let me know if you liked today’s post by tapping the “heart”as it helps more people find me! Or you can add a comment if anything in particular resonated with you. I always enjoy hearing from you! I am so incredibly grateful for all of my readers and subscribers. All of your likes, comments, and notes are truly an inspiration to me!