January 7: Celebrate Life Day (W)

Today was interesting.  We observed our first purely existential holiday of the year.  It was hard to really figure out how to celebrate it, since 'life' is a pretty broad category.  Saying we celebrated by breathing seems like a bit of a cop out, despite being technically accurate.  So, ya know, no members of the undead need apply.

YOU CAN'T SIT WITH US.

We tried to limit the number of thought holidays or observations as much as possible over the course of the year, in large part because it is very hard to share the experience of our thoughts with people.  We spent most of the day relaxing, enjoying the company of family and watching ID, which, if you haven't experienced, is the best network in the history of television.  It is 24 hours of people murdering each other with pun filled narration over top.

Like this, but real.

One thing that did get me thinking is that today was my birthday, but for the first time in my life, that didn't make me want to do something big.  I grew up marking every possible milestone and ticking every little accomplishment box I could find.  But... and the contemplation of life itself helped with this... this was the first year that I wasn't worried about it.  It was pleasant.  

Celebrate Life Day is actually not a day - it is a week - celebrated the first week of the year by the International Society of Friendship and Good Will.  We went digging, but couldn't find much information on how they recommend observing the holiday so we decided to do some things we thought would fit the overall tone and objective of it.

First and foremost - we made a point to be more helpful around the house.  We generally try not to be shitty houseguests, but to be honest... laziness is just so pleasant.  It is really a great and joyful activity.

SRSLY.

We wanted to let my parents know how much they mean to us and how much we've appreciated their hospitality over Christmas though - so we helped cook dinner, shoveled snow at the end of the driveway and made sure to be around for various chores and clean up as needed.  It seems silly because that was not a lot of work (now, to be fair, they're retired so there's never a lot of work), but the act of offering and helping was a good reminder of what they mean to us.  It is something we should do more often.

We also took some time to think about what things we were thankful for.  There is so much - too much to list without it becoming a massive humblebrag about our lives.  What I noticed though is that going back and thinking about it felt a lot like reliving some of our best moments.  I think that was the benefit of a mostly existential holiday - we worried there was no real way to celebrate today, but just remembering joyful moments can be a celebration in and of itself.