I had no idea it was a holiday! Forgot all about Labor Day until I saw Mykkah’s status on gmail chat – something about loving long weekends.
There have been several holidays in the three weeks since we arrived. India knows how to celebrate! Loud (great) music, mandalas of flowers, small lamps in the middle of ornate gatherings of offerings. Lovely. And even though you might expect frequent holidays to become mundane, people dress up, act happy, get even more friendly and likely to reach out. It really is lovely how celebratory people are here. And that doesn’t even begin to account for the private special days – birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, new jobs, all the various achievements and markers of a life lived for celebrating.
I lived at Pelican Place in Moses Lake for five months and I can honestly say that I never saw a celebration. A bbq or two, but people actively, carefully avoid making a celebration of such events. Why are U.S.ers so dedicated to avoiding meaning, weight, emotion, connection, import, significance? Reality.
And why is “facing reality” an act wherein you look at the downsides, problems, can’ts? I think that reality is bigger and better than that. But it’s really a matter of attitude.
So there it is. Go celebrate something!
