CELEBRATION | ADVICE | LIFE
What We Really Do is Celebrate Existence
Mind you, sometimes, a joint celebration is a mess.
In the realm of celebration, where joy meets existence, a profound tale is waiting to be explored.
As the world just danced to the tunes of Christmas and the rhythmic countdown to the new year, my contemplative spirit found the voice to checkmate the intricacies of celebration.
This is not related to the world celebrating amidst war and suffering. To be factual, my deepest condolence goes to the victims of the attacks in those trying times.
Also, the inspiration behind this article came at an odd time.
Maybe not directly so!.. Well! That’s until you look at it as deeply as I have done in this article. It was a time of celebration and merriment in some parts of the world.
Christians were celebrating Christmas, and the world was celebrating a new year.
It was time to be jolly and happy. But even in those times of happiness, my overthinking persona found a way to reveal the limitations and challenges with celebration.
Most of these give a new definition to the act of celebration.
That! When we celebrate. All we genuinely do is celebrate existence.
But how so?
I have accessed this by expressing the advantage of celebrations in the joyful mess of joint celebrations, the bittersweet reality of celebrations, and recommendations for why celebrations go beyond the surface.
The Joyful Mess of Joint Celebrations
Who says there’s no such thing as double delight? We’re throwing a birthday party for our sons tonight! Come friends, come all — Best Slogans
Picture the above quote in a special event invitation. You can be sure to have more than the invited number pop in.
Meanwhile, I have yet to be a parent, but the quote looks like one I could use to invite my friends to my son’s birthday.
Celebrations, like other things, could have deeper meanings, like the following.
1. Chinese New Year:
It marks the beginning of the lunar new year in China. It’s a time for family reunions, feasting, and honoring ancestors. Each year is associated with an animal from the Chinese zodiac.
2. Thanksgiving:
Celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada, it is a time to express gratitude for the blessings of the harvest and the year. Families and friends come together to have a festive meal symbolized by turkeys shared with thanks.
3. Eid al-Fitr:
Eid al-Fitr is the time to mark the end of Ramadan. An Islamic holy month of fasting. It is celebrated with joy, prayers, and gratitude as families and friends gather for a meal of charitable acts on the day.
4. Christmas:
Christmas is the celebration of the Christian religious leader ‘Jesus Christ.’ It is always celebrated on the 25th of December. Some of its common customs involve families spending time together, exchanging gifts, and decorating a Christmas tree.
All these celebrations collectively hold an even deeper meaning that will be revealed soon. But one must first appreciate its most significant advantages.
Like the one that comes with a joyful mess, you celebrate your birthday with friends. Enjoy their company and beat ease as you wine and dine.
At this point, it feels like even the simplest thing in life is non-existent.
Especially when it is a joint celebration.
A joint celebration is a mess sometimes! But it’s a worthy mess.
- You’ll leave through the moment with memorable thoughts.
- You’ll experience the messiness of being with friends, like having a girl’s night out.
- You’ll express your true feelings and, even worse, say the deepest and crankiest things from the depths of your heart.
But in some African cultures, a joint celebration is canceled and deemed unfit for some celebrations in life.
The Yoruba people from Nigeria advise that when you start to make your first few wins in an endeavor, celebrating it with too many people is not good.
I always thought it was a lousy adage from an evil aunty. But now that I think of it deeply.
It protects you from the craziest mess in joint celebrations, which is ‘unknowingly inviting and treating your enemies to a good time.’
Even worse, this two-phased situation gave a more profound view.
The Bittersweet Reality of Celebrations
During Christmas, I celebrated with my family. But I also celebrated with a friend who had just gotten a scholarship to a university in the United States.
It was a great time out. It is a joint celebration with friends and, of course, foes. We all had fun teasing each other while celebrating the win.
As it should be!
It felt like time had been paused, and the happiness would never stop. That was because we shared in the struggle.
This shows that celebrations also involve reminiscing on the moments of hardship leading to the win.
Sometimes, one must do their best to celebrate, even during hardship and struggle.
It meant a lot to us because
- We were all part of the story.
- We all had the same goal for the year.
- We have all seen it come to pass.
But it wasn’t long till we noticed a dent in the wall. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
We remembered our friend who had passed away in the year.
The impact of the thought made us collectively weary about the essence of life. But mainly about the true meaning of the celebration.
Then we all agreed that ‘what we do is celebrate existence.’ Because without the celebrant being alive, the celebration might never be what it should be.
Celebrations go Beyond the Surface.
We give nomenclature to events and occasions: birthdays, naming ceremonies, graduations, and weddings.
We make the celebrant the center of attraction and special pudding for the day. But celebrations go beyond the surface.
Stacy Lyn Harris asked this:
How do we celebrate milestones when life keeps on going?
My answer:
In the relentless flow of life, celebrating milestones becomes an art of seizing transient pauses.
We mark achievements not to halt time but to acknowledge growth amidst life’s constant motion.
These celebrations serve as anchors, reminding us to cherish the journey while navigating the ever-moving currents and appreciating the gift of existence.
Takeaways
- Appreciate moments with family.
- Celebrate with friends, too.
- Remember the true meaning of the celebration. That what we do is celebrate existence.
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