With how busy we all are these days holidays seem like such a luxurious way to spend ones time. I didn’t get any holidays as paid days off until relatively recently in my working career. (Having to work Black Fridays is such an other worldly experience sometimes) I find that working on a Holiday, you see both the good and bad, expectations and emotions people associate to that day. In many ways (if you are like me) we as a collective people just get sick of all of the commercialism but still enjoy the sense of community a celebration brings. What seems to be forgotten is the reason why we celebrate, these precious few days of the year, and what they stand for. In a sense the true spirit of the day. Chief of these spiritless holidays being Christmas.

We look at days like Christmas and see the presents and lights, with all the extravagance the holiday has to offer. We associate it with joy, life, family and the warmth of an overwhelming sense of peace, to sustain us through the cold of winter. With decorating starting earlier and earlier each year some are now putting up their Christmas trees in August, to try to have those feelings more months out of the year. We are even seeing stores getting into the celebration of Christmas as early as September, with the promise of more decorations closer to Thanksgiving. All of this points to a longing for one time of the year, to which I say it blinds the senses, and prevents emotional growth.

My Dad advice to you is as follows, enjoy every holiday even the small ones. Take the meaning of each and use it to mark that specific time of the year because doing so will bring a deeper meaning and richness to the rest of the year. I know that there seems to be a holiday everyday or a new National or International celebration of some kind (I am looking at you International talk like a pirate day) so to that I say at least try to pick your favorites and celebrate through out the year, but try to have them all have different meanings.

As an example I know that “Columbus Day” has gotten a bad reputation as of late, and it has become “Indigenous people’s day”, but I looked at Columbus Day as a day celebration discovery, of celebrating the human spirit. He knew there was something there but he still risked it all to discover something. It would have made more sense to me to change it not to “Indigenous people’s day” but to “Discoverers day”. Have the spirit of the day promote growth and inclusiveness, not just one group of people. Take the holiday and open it up to people’s actions not what they were born as.

This principle of applying the spirit of the holiday can be for any holiday. For Valentines Day celebrate loved ones, do something selfless and love your fellow human (this includes any romantic partner), Thanksgiving feel the joy and lightness of being thankful for everything(think of all the amazing things that happened to get you to where you are today), 4th of July the spirit of adventure and risk (you can bet the founding fathers risked a lot). When you start to celebrate the spirit of the days you really feel the emotional attachments to days start to be used for growth and reminders. Through growth we start to know ourselves better, we become more than we are today.