I have been noticing of late that every time there is a specific Day like Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day, there is the mandatory change of status updates on social media. Pictures are automatically modified. Bloggers come up with blogposts, some mundane, some unusual, and many interesting. All in all, the virtual world is agog with activity. You can’t escape the same in newspapers and TV. Akshaya Tritiya just went by yesterday. No one could have ignored those large adverts with goddess-like women dripping in gold jewelry. I wonder if that made some women depressed and most men very nervous :).
Now the same display of emotions may seem irksome to some. Sure, we all have opinions, why not? But, what I fail to understand is why it triggers depression in some others? Is it because one person’s show of fervor is distasteful or unabashed to another? Well, that is what social media is all about anyway. My personal impression is that if I celebrate an occasion, it is just my mark of respect for that special person/s – in remembering or appreciating them. Now you may say that love for someone is not meant to be shown for a day only. Totally agree, but putting a day aside for someone important and being grateful for their presence in your life is good. After all gratitude is heartening and fills one with positive vibes.
If possible, I would want to tell each important person in my life every single day, how much they mean to me. But, that doesn’t happen. So I appreciate these occasions when I remember, cherish and enjoy the presence of these thoughtful souls in my life. Now for me, the occasion has nothing to do with gifts. I have never expected to get one except of the intangible kind. But, I loved it when my son gave me a handwritten letter on this Mother’s Day, I won’t deny it. I loved remembering both my mother and mother-in-law with love and pride and enjoyed sharing the camaraderie with all others who were celebrating mothers. I sent personalized emails to friends last Friendship Day. So yes, it is fun and positive to celebrate the good that you are blessed with in your life. Do it and you will see a difference in your own life.
In no way is this gesture or celebration meant to offend or poke fingers at others or belittle another. I personally hate the hue and cry around Valentine’s Day especially the commercialization. But doing something special for the significant other on that day is completely within the territory. Just today, I was penning an article on letting go and practicing gratitude.
I really feel that it is within the power of each individual to treat each such celebration, each event in our lives as an occasion of their own. Who says one needs to be a mother or father to celebrate Mother’s Day or Father’s Day? Is there no mentor, teacher, guide, colleague, boss, sister, brother, or friend who fits that bill if your own parents do not or if you yourself are not a parent? Are you not a nurturer of many other souls without actually being a parent? Do you really need to have a girlfriend/boyfriend in your life to celebrate love? It is all a matter of nazariya or approach. And, do you think that doing away with an occasion will actually ease or erase the void that you feel inside if you feel one? It really won’t. Because the problem is not with the occasion but with what you associate with it. And, I am not saying that you don’t have a right to express your disgust or negative feelings for the occasion. You do and you must and it is cathartic too, but don’t let these days make you depressed. Poke fun, be sarcastic, kick a riot with anti-day people or whatever suits you and have your own anti-day camaraderie.
Don’t be mistaken that I am in favor of commercialization of emotions or feelings. I am not! But I am not cynical about life, and sometimes feeling happy for someone else is enriching too. Yes, gratitude is nice and uplifting. And for that sole reason, I appreciate these occasions.
Cynicism is easy; hatred is even easier! God knows we need more reasons to celebrate in our heart and mind what we already have.
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. – Epictetus
What do you think of these special Days? Do you celebrate them and if so in what way?
Pic courtesy: freedigitalphotos.net
Rachna says 
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