The invention of new ‘days’

Last Sunday was Mother’s day, and the whole world was celebrating it, except for people in the UK! I was kind of upset about this. All my friends, their moms, their partners, and even my own mom, were posting pictures and thank you messages on Facebook, Instagram, Watsapp groups, Blogs, Twitter, about the joy their moms or their children have given them, this Mother’s day. UK has different dates designated for Mother’s and Father’s day celebrations it seems, but that’s not the point of this post:)

Do you remember 20 years back, how our parents celebrated Mother’s day and Father’s day for their parents? Or when couples celebrated Valentine’s day? Or when we celebrated Women’s day, or Employee Day, or Mental Health Day, or one of the many other ‘days’ we have now? How amazing those ‘days’ and celebrations were right? Nope, wrong. We don’t remember, because they didn’t exist then. A few years back, or until last weekend really, I used to be indifferent to these new ‘Days’ in the calendar and the celebrations around them. In fact, I used to be annoyed by Valentine’s Day celebrations in particular. I’d say, ‘Hallmark and other merchandise companies have created this silly day for couples to express their love through materialistic things or experiences, don’t you get it? I don’t need one particular day to express my love to someone I love? I can do it whenever I want! This is such a silly concept!‘ Part of my outrage stemmed from the fact that I was always the wallflower in school and college and never got anything or had any secret admirers (until later in college), on Valentine’s day, while I used to secretly wish for it. I used to see my popular friends getting so many things and wishes on Valentine’s day, and be secretly jealous. Outwards, I would say, I don’t care about this day- remember the story of the sour grapes? Yep, classic example 😀

But this weekend, I came to realisation, that I will be a hypocrite, if I tell myself and everyone else, that I don’t care about these new ‘Days‘ in our calendar. And then it struck me. Our cultures and religions and festivals or celebrations are slowly changing, along with Globalization as well. I know there are so many religions in the World, and every religion has their own festivals, which allow people to thank a Higher Power for what they have, be humbled, and cherish the time with their families and friends. But we also know, that festivals were not created by the higher power. They were created by us- long time back. Because at that time, we were thankful for some things from someone. Because we lived a sequestered life, every religion and festival was slightly different from the other, but the commonality of them all was the fact that it was a day to be celebrated, to be thankful for, and to be able to spend time with the people you loved or cared about.

The picture above shows the things that brought me joy this week, and stuff that I would love to celebrate and be thankful for!

And it is the same today- just slightly different, if you think about it. I know we all feel these ‘Days‘ are being invented by multinationals to promote consumerism. But nothing can really be sold or promoted as an idea, if people are not invested in that idea, and if that idea doesn’t give them joy! How have all these special days become popular? Yes, we can profess our love to the people we care about everyday, just like we can pray to God everyday. But then again, don’t we have special days to say, thank you God, in each of our different religions too? Can’t we have special days to thank the people in our lives who have or are constantly contributing to the happiness in our lives, just in case we have forgotten to say so every day, due to our busy lives? In fact, I feel, the best part about these new invented ‘days’ is that they are Global! They transcend race, creed, colour, and religion and are celebrated by everyone! This just shows that maybe, consumerism is also leading to a global sense of love and one-ness? Food for thought?

These are just personal thoughts of mine. I have no problem if you choose to disagree, because hey, that’s our right, right?:) But today, I am going to admit to want to accept this Global religion of being thankful. I am going to admit that I like celebrating these days. I am going to admit that I want a Mother’s day to thank my mom, I want a Father’s day to take my dad out for a drink, I want a Valentine’s day to go on a cheesy date with my partner, I want Women’s day to celebrate myself, and I want all these other days and many more days!! After all we have 365 days in the year- and each day should become a cause to celebrate! hahaha.. On that note, Happy hump day/mid week day everyone!! Have a cake, or an ice cream or a beer and listen to some of that rock and roll or hip hop or classical music and be thankful 🙂 Leaving you with my happy song for now:)

Adventure of a Lifetime by Coldplay!