This month I want to invite you to shift your focus on celebrations. Not that they aren’t already on our minds - I’ve heard people talking about the highly problematic holiday of Thanksgiving, as well as Christmas, and New Years... So here I am joining the conversation and I’d like to start by asking:

What’s the point of celebrating?

A Rant About Holidays
I always loved the feasting of the holidays, the wintry activities, and decorating for Christmas. For a while, I celebrated (or rather DIDN’T celebrate) Festivus too haha. However, what bothered me - and still does - is how our society can get hung up on the material aspects of these holidays. For me, more frustrating than the consumer Christmas is the pillaging that people do on Black Friday, or Indigenous Heritage Day, directly after giving thanks for what they have. Oh, Gratitude! What an amazingly beautiful gift that we give - to ourselves, to those near us.
I won’t tell you that it’s not nice to have things - it is, there are physical comforts that improve our lives and bring us joy. However, we need a lot less than we think to be happy because happiness comes from the inside. I know - cheesy, cliche, but it’s true. So, I would like to encourage you in the coming weeks to slow down.

Pause before reacting, say yes to things that fill you with energy, say no thank you to invitations that will drain you. Conserve your energy. Money and material gifts don’t have to be the center of your traditions, and if they’re not yay! Good for you! If they are, I’d like to ask you if there are other ways you might enjoy celebrating? Maybe putting gift money towards a family trip, deciding to have a day without distractions from your friends and family. How would your family react if you asked them what they thought the meaning of the holiday was? Do you think you already know? Why not ask, you may be surprised.

Seasonal Markers
The holidays are a way to know where we are in the year. Sounds silly but it’s true. Before there were calendars and clocks people marked time by the moon and stars. Held festivities based on the season and the activities in the festivities were meant to have meaning and also to make life more fruitful; more fun. I told you that I liked celebrating Christmas but I also like to celebrate the Solstice.
The Solstice marks the Winter and the Summer - or rather, the longest and shortest days of the year. The Equinox marks the halfway points of Spring and Autumn - days when the light and dark are equal. These 4 points, or quarter days, are the cardinal points on the Wheel of the Year. Between them are 4 “cross-quarter” days, midway points where the season is marked.
I wrote about these 8 points of celebration in the Wheel of the Year blog post If you're unfamiliar with these points check them out! I’m hoping it will give a little insight into the purpose of each holiday, the why, and also the how of how people have celebrated.

Send me a message, and let me know what do you think is the point of celebrating?