Plus, how she plans to give back throughout the next year.
By now, we’ve all celebrated at least one birthday during the pandemic. And it’s…different, to say the least.
We’re celebrating our leading lady today, even if she’s not feeling so festive. But, as always, she’s found a way to lift her spirits about this birthday. We chatted with Katie about why this one feels different, what she’s doing to celebrate, and what she’s looking forward to in the year to come.
KCM: How do you feel about birthdays in general? What do birthdays mean to you?
KC: Generally, I love birthdays. I like mine to last the entire month of January! Even though I’m a glass-half-full person and my late husband used to say, I was born on a sunny day, I have to be honest. I’m not feeling great about this birthday. For some reason, 65 seems like a really big number. As John reminded me, I’m now closer to 70, which was super helpful! I think I started dreading this day ever since I got a text from CVS telling me I was eligible for Medicare.
So it’s not really internal, it’s kind of caused by external factors, right?
KC: Yeah. I think so. It feels like a really big number and I think it’s compounded by the fact that we’re, once again, in COVID and I can’t really celebrate it. It’s just hard to celebrate anything. Wow! Talk about a Debbie downer!
Do you have anything planned to celebrate at home?
Well, Carrie got me a great spa day, but because of COVID, we can’t go. So we’re planning on going together down the road. So that’s something to look forward to! John and I would really like to buy a sculpture for our apartment — that would be a fun joint gift, since we both have January birthdays. On one birthday, Jay and I gave each other a Steinway piano because he played and I play. There’s something really nice about giving each other a shared birthday present. Jay’s birthday was on January 9th and John’s birthday is on January 21st. So we have a lot of January birthdays in our family! Carrie is on January 5th. My sister Kiki’s is on January 16th. Henry, my stepson is January 11th. My grandmother’s birthday was on January 8th. There must have been a lot of love in the air in April!
But as far as gifts this year, I’m really over accumulating things. There is nothing I need. I’ve been blessed beyond measure, and I’ve never been very materialistic. Now, I want to get rid of things. Instead of getting, I want to do more giving. So this year, I plan to do 65 acts of kindness, and I’m going to encourage my followers to the same number as their age. It could mean buying the person in line behind me coffee. It could mean supporting a local organization. It could mean donating things I don’t need. It could mean volunteering. It could mean calling a friend who’s having a hard time. I’ll have to do one a week and then some weekends.
I think that the best thing to do when you’re feeling down in the dumps is to do things for other people. Scientific studies have shown that when you start thinking about other people instead of yourself, it elevates your mood considerably, so I’ll be testing that theory. And even though I’m a little blue about turning 65, I’m going to try to turn that around by doing good things for other people.
Looking back on birthdays past, do you have a favorite gift that you’ve ever received or a celebration you’ll never forget?
Oh yeah, I had a big celebration at Tiffany’s on my 50th birthday. That was the most amazing party. Bette Midler sang and so did Tony Bennett. We had little cakes in the shape of the blue Tiffany’s boxes, and lots of dancing. Everyone wore a little black dress. And Tiffany’s let me borrow a diamond tiara. It was incredibly fun. That was probably the most extravagant birthday party I’ve ever had. And then John threw a really fun birthday party for me on my 60th. It was also a big blowout and even more fun because John was there.
I think the fact that I can’t celebrate, and the fact that it’s a big birthday that I’m not sure I even want to celebrate is sort of putting a little bit of a damper on it this year. It’s kinda a double whammy.
Well, what are you looking forward to in your future?
Hopefully, God willing, I have a lot of years ahead of me, and I feel like I still have a lot to contribute and I’m excited about that. Even though I’m feeling less than thrilled about the big day, I think it’s because of the overall malaise that many of us are feeling. I am excited about the future — the projects that I’m developing, KCM and all the people there, and the great work I hope we continue to do. And the possibility that I’ll actually be able to go to the office and be with everyone! I miss professional human interaction! I’m a people person; I get a lot of energy from other people. And I think I give a lot of energy to other people. So I’m excited about the prospect of just being in people’s physical space.
Speaking of where you get your energy from, some readers had sent in questions they had for you, and one of them was, “What gives you energy? You seem to be a force of nature and it makes us all feel like we can be better versions of ourselves.” So, what gives you energy?
I think creativity and curiosity give me energy. I love reading. I love learning. I love exploring. I’d like to learn how to speak Spanish this year. John said if I learned how to speak Spanish, he would take me to South America, which I think would be really fun! And coffee gives me energy. Taking walks and being outside gives me energy. I love to stay busy, just having a lot of things on my to-do list makes me feel energized. But sometimes I feel like I need to learn how to be still—to practice the art of doing nothing. I think that would give me even more energy!
