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Today's
quotation:
People of our time are losing the
power of celebration. Instead of
celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an
active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation. To be
entertained is a passive state-- it is to receive pleasure afforded by
an amusing act or a spectacle. . . . Celebration is a confrontation,
giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one's actions.
Abraham Joshua Heschel
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Today's
Meditation:
Many of
us find celebration difficult. After all, we're
constantly advised not to celebrate success too soon,
because things may go wrong later. We see athletes
celebrate their victories too early and drop their guard,
allowing the other team to score the winning points.
We see businesses celebrate success one year only to file
for bankruptcy a year later.
Celebration,
though, can be an important part of who we are.
Celebrations are a form of gratitude and appreciation, and
they reflect mindfulness of our current situations.
They can make us feel better about who we are and what
we've done; they can actually be the light at the end of
the tunnel towards which we're working. We never see
any tangible results of many of the things we do, and a
celebration can help us to be mindful of our
accomplishments.
We do see many "celebrations" that truly aren't
legitimate. We often give awards and throw parties
for the least of our accomplishments, celebrating
achievements that are dubious, at best. When we do
this (and I'll skip the specific examples I can think of),
we diminish the importance of the things that truly merit
celebration.
It's
important to celebrate our achievements, and it's
important to celebrate simply being alive, having enough
air to breathe and water to drink. To be honest,
though, when I wake up in the morning, my first thought
isn't about celebrating a new day-- I have to make a
conscious effort to celebrate. And that celebration
doesn't have to be a spectacle or a party-- it can be a
simple giving of thanks, alone, anywhere I happen to
be. It can be a shared cup of coffee or glass of
wine with a friend. It can be a party with our
family or co-workers. Very often people aren't
willing to stop and celebrate, though-- we're more likely
to move on to the next thing without sharing the joy and
sense of achievement and appreciation for life.
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