Yep, traffic picked up quite a bit.
As I walked through the crowd downtown, a thought hit me. (Yes, I was drinking coffee.)
Why do we celebrate?
Huh.
There’s celebrations I know that are international – Christmas and Easter.
There’s celebrations that are national – 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Veterans Day.
There’s all those celebrations that are tethered to making money, but are still nice – Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, 2nd Cousin, Valentine’s, and Secretary’s Days.
And lotsa kids are looking forward to that caloric-infusing, sugar-buzzing, candy extravaganza later this month.
There’s even “Talk Like A Pirate” Day full of Johnny Depp imitators.
(I'm hesitant to mention that failed marketing attempt to capture the Middle Eastern demographic – Philip Morris’ “The Festival of Smoking Camels”)
So why do we look for reasons to celebrate?
I think we want to be happy. And most celebrations are inherently happy.
Though some celebrations are somber, they nudge us to remember things.
And the remembering makes us part of something. Like we belong.
And belonging makes us happy.
So go ahead. Celebrate something.
Belong.
And be happy, eh?