Why Celebrate

I had an important birthday this week – turned 40. Celebrating events or milestones has always been high on my list of priorities. If you have ever told me your birth date, chances are good that you’ll get a card or call from me to commemorate the day. Many people are shy about birthdays or even down right self-deprecating. They don’t want to make a big deal, don’t tell anyone. I even know people who act as if a birthday is a sad thing. Not kids though. Kids are all about birthdays. “Bring it on,” they say. Something happens, as we get older, birthdays are no longer something to look forward to or get excited about and plan. People like me that still want to get excited about birthdays are somewhat shamed into dampening it down. People will humor you with a happy birthday wish but it’s often done with a sense of obligation and just a little bit of embarrassment for you. Seems like aging makes many of us dampen down our enthusiasm for about most things. Yet, isn’t it the enthusiastic people that you want to be with, even if you are a little embarrassed for them?

Documentation of birthday celebrations goes at least as far back as 4,000 years ago to Pharaoh, King of Egypt. In pagan cultures, birthdays were considered a time when a door opened for “bad spirits” to harm you. They believed that the only way to keep the bad spirits at bay was to be surrounded by well wishing friends and family. Warner Communications purchased the Happy Birthday song copyright in 1989 for $22 million. It is touted as one of the most recognizable tunes worldwide. Two sisters wrote it in 1893 from Louisville, Kentucky, Patty, and Mildred Hill.

Yanki Tauber, editor of Chabad an on-line Jewish magazine, waxes eloquently on birthdays by saying that every individual human being has a soul--a distinct spiritual identity, and a distinct mission in life. This is what came into being on your birthday. I like the idea that on birthdays we acknowledge that we in fact do have an individual mission and check in on our progress. However, it’s nothing that lofty that brought home why we deep down do want to celebrate birthdays, weddings, graduations, and all other significant life events. John Maxwell said it while interviewing on the book he co-authored with Les Parrot called 25 Ways to Win With People – it’s about making memories with people. If you look back on the highlights of life, it’s always more than the backdrop. The special people with you made it memorable.

"The illusion that we are separate from one another is an optical delusion of our consciousness." Albert Einstein