does birthday mean party?

Different people hold birthdays to different importance. Birthday is a tradition, and with all tradition it is viewed through the scope we are given it from. A birthday, when I was a kid, was another day; a day to be congratulated and honored, but in the end, just another day. So you are a year older, big deal, if not for the 364 (365) days preceding it, it is nothing. We had cake and ice cream at dinner the Sunday before or after in honor of and grandma would do something special with each grandkid. What is so special about getting older? I hear when you do get older everybody wishes he or she would stop having birthdays. Perhaps I just downplay the significance of this special day in my mind to avoid the glamour and attention of it. I am not one for spotlights.

A friend of mine gave me some perspective the other day on the subject. The kaleidoscope of tradition which was passed to her contrasted my own. She told me about how birthdays were the happy days she remembered from her childhood. Her mother had a way of making it a special day, not just a special day but the whole week was one to remember, to honor the birthday girl. It is your day, a day in honor of you. So why not celebrate? Anything less would be evasive and unpretentious.

Everybody deservers her own day. I remember saying once that the most important day of my life so far was the day I was born, and the second most important is tomorrow- the day that (God willing) keeps my life going. I try every day to celebrate my life, to be happy to be alive. I think we all should. Perhaps that is why I don’t set my birthday apart, because I celebrate my life every day. If you do it every day how is it different on that one day each year? It is an anniversary, and anniversaries are meant to be celebrated. So, is your birthday for you? or is it for those people in your life who care about you? Either way there should be a party, right?

If you were to tell a friend that your birthday was coming up I am confident he would say Happy Birthday and ask you if you were having a party. You might say a similar thing in the same situation. I was asked this question. In response I had to ask if I was the one responsible for make sure there was a party; “I don’t know, am I having a party?” Kind of rude in retrospect, but I know I can say anything to this friend. Who is supposed to throw a birthday party? Who does it serve? Is it tradition to have a birthday party? Is it a social norm?

I don’t pretend to know the answers but my view of birthdays has changed. One small chat with a friend and you never know what can happen. Birthdays are anniversaries. A special day to think about where you started, to ponder on the direction you are headed, and to celebrate your amazing life. So whether you choose to celebrate with a bunch of roudy friends at a party, or with your family around the table at dinner, or relaxing on a white beach in the brilliant sun, make sure you have a good one. I will!

shopping carts

How often do you go shopping? Once a week? Twice a week? Once every other week? Do you use a buggie (shopping cart)? I wondered today as I pushed one around, how many people have pushed this same cart? How many different hands have touched this same handle? You never see anybody wash shopping carts; at least I never have. Interesting! Other things don't raise such a thought in my mind because I see people wash them, or know that there is a person in charge of washing them. But what about shopping cart handles? Perhaps that is how pandemics spread.

unheroic

The heroic nature is dying, de-idolized, regarded mockingly. There is a scripture in the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ that says “The day will come that people will call good bad and bad good.” I think among other things this condoning of heroism is one small part of that. What is a hero? Most of the time hero is thought of as superhero. I thought the idea of Pixar’s Incredible is enlightening, the idea of suing a superhero…what a self-centered, one-track world we live in. And you know if superheroes existed today they would be sued. It is sad that there exists in this world people whose soul purpose seems to be to go around finding things to sue people for.

something to offer

Kids are spellbound by peoples of authority, peoples in uniform. They are eager to ask their parents “Mommy, who is that man?” or “Daddy, why is that man wearing that?” Policemen, firefighters, soldiers and pilots, there is a certain wonder and awe of a uniform- especially one that sticks out in a crowd. To the pure and childlike eye the uniform embodies a hero. Power, authority and influence. It represents, as it should, the values of honor, devotion, and sacrifice.

What do you offer? What can you offer such an awe struck impressionable child? These days there are so many self serving ill-intending people in the world that it is hard to offer any act of shear kindness anymore without arising a cautious suspicion- especially in the eyes of loving parents of the young. I remember as a child receiving Delta Wings from a lady in a Delta Airlines uniform as I went to the airport with my parents to deliver a sibling to his waiting flight.

As I traveled recently I met such a curious little kid. Is a handshake and a greeting enough? Is there something more to offer? Something to let him know he can believe in heroes? I don't begin to consider myself a hero but that is what the uniform represents. When a policeman is seen in uniform every action reflects that force- not just the individual. Every time a soldier is seen in uniform she is praised for the ideals she is living and the efforts of all people, past present and future, who choose to wear that same uniform.

So what is there to offer?