… over the next few days so there is going to be a lot of laundry that absolutely MUST be done today. So it’s batten down the hatches time around the homestead.
PLANS FOR TOMORROW?
Whip up a big mess of comfort food and hold up with some movies. I really don’t do holidays anymore. (What? Lecram, you are not doing Halloween?) I sort of stopped a few years ago. (How weird… especially for a “theatre guy”.) I don’t even really do my own birthday for that matter.
Some of my friends chide me because I don’t. It’s not because I have become some sort of a sad sack but a lot of it just feels… well, superficial and manufactured. At least to me it seems like it has come to that over the past few years.
OK… let me qualify that. Sure, I will be the first one to admit there is always a certain amount of “stage management” involved with any kind of festivity…. like decorations, food, presents, etc. What I’m getting at is the difference between “having to” and “wanting to”. I guess over the past few years I have stopped because the “obligation to” has trumped the genuine “desire to”. It almost feels as if when a holiday is around the bend people rush around getting this and that just so when the day finally arrives they can appear to be celebrating. Somehow I don’t think that any celebration should be a societal obligation. “Hey, look at me… I’m celebrating! In fact, I’m celebrating more that you are… booyah!”
Perhaps, the other possible reason may be that over the years I have been the “in-charge” guy and always had to pull things together for something or another. All of this could simply be a reaction against that. Also, I happen to believe that if one is not feeling it the worst thing that one could do is force it. Heck, even when I used to celebrate (the few of them that I actually have)… I pretty much orchestrated every one of my own birthdays. Anyway, birthdays are not big in my family… there have even been times when I’ve missed my own by a couple of weeks.
Besides, I find more value in sharing real time with some friends over a meal and a drink. As such, I really don’t have to wait for any “special” holiday to “make it happen” simply because everyday presents the possibility of a celebration.