Today is my birthday.

A perfect day for a fresh start. I have so much that I’ve been thinking about. So much that I’m involved in. It’s exciting. And I want to let you know all about it. But for now, let’s just take a breath and begin.

A new year. Spring is at least a little in the air. The fields are beginning to unfallow (defallow?). The Vernal Equinox is nigh.

I have wishes, intentions, hopes for this new year, and I’m dying to share them with you, but they feel like like blowing out the candles on my cake–these wishes are to be kept secret. A conspiracy betweeen all the inner mes.

Suffice to say for our purposes that they involve doorways and the going through of them. Crossing thresholds. Closing the doors behind me. And that means a letting go too. A letting go of identity.

This is what I mean as just one example. For me, one of the hardest parts of changing how I eat has been how I identify the Eating Christina. It’s not letting go of the actual coffee with cream, it’s letting go of the me that says “I am a coffee drinker.”

There will be more of that this year as I cross through these doorways.

So, celebrate with me! On birthdays past I know I’ve had a tradition of limericks. (Feel free to go review them here). But this year, I feel I need the elegance of the haiku.

I would love it if you would leave me a haiku on the theme of doorways and thresholds in the comments.

And hey, haikus don’t have to be serious. Here’s one that Shane Koyczan, the spoken word poet told at his concert. (He didn’t write it, but I can’t remember who he said had–it was created at some kind of Extreme Haiku competition — how awesome is that, that haikus have joined the ranks of extreme sports. I so want the blooper reel from that.)