It's National Something Day
I woke up to #NationalSiblingDay tweets, so I'm assuming it's National Sibling Day. I already wrote a post about my brother last week so I guess I won't bore you with another one.
You know, I've always wondered, why do we have so many of these National Days? Who makes up National Donut Day or Puppy Day or Pizza Day (my favorite)? I also feel like it's National Pizza Day like once a month? Which I'm not complaining about. I just think it's silly.
Are we no longer able to appreciate things in our daily life unless we are socially forced to with a fake holiday?
I feel like every day is someone's birthday, holiday, engagement, baby shower, etc. I can't seem to keep track of all the holidays or celebrations anymore.
Growing up I never cared too much about holidays. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love celebrating and gathering with loved ones. It was just never a big thing in our home. I think it was mainly because we were such a small family and all our relatives were far away. Holidays were usually just my dad, mom, brother and I sharing a meal. Not very different from an average day. In college, I studied out of state, so I spent the holidays on campus. And when I moved to Los Angeles, I spent nearly 8 years of holidays apart from my family. I was a struggling actress barely staying afloat. It made more sense to send money home to my parents than to spend it on a plane ticket. Time spent would be great but sometimes you just need to survive and we don't always have the luxury for both.
Now that I think about it, I never had a "Sweet 16" or a big 21st birthday party and I never had a senior graduation party. For most of my teenage years I was bitter at my parents but post college I learned - they didn't know. They didn't know they were supposed to do these "celebrations". There isn't an instruction manual for immigrant parents on social musts for your children.
Mom and dad didn't need holidays and celebrations to show they loved us. They were happy to put food on the table and a roof over our heads. Growing up was hard and life is still hard. Not everyone can afford celebrations. Some families are happy if they can share a meal together or live in the same state. I don't think my parents loved me less because they didn't throw me parties. The way they showed love was just culturally different.
Celebrations and National Day's are great but we don't need them. We should appreciate the people and things we have in our lives regardless of the day it is. Like pizza and dogs, we should appreciate pizza and dogs every day.
