Life in the Single Lane

Reasons for the season


 

 

It wasn’t until I was about 5 years old that I discovered not all families on my block celebrated Weihnachten. And although I wondered why Santa, also called St. Nicholas in our household, always snuck in during bath time so I could never catch him in action, I really didn’t question why I got to open gifts on Christmas Eve.

When I met my best childhood friend at the age of 8, I was happy to celebrate Christmas with her family on Dec. 25. As far as I was concerned, I was one lucky gal to have two very joyful, festive events in a row. I still celebrate both. It’s tradition.

And as far as the reason for the season is concerned, for most of my formative years, I was content with the understanding that these festivities were to celebrate a special birth. To me, it didn’t matter about the different dates or the variances in the names of the observances.

Of course, like most of us, as I got older and my world grew larger, I discovered that there were many different reasons for the season. I remember being thrilled, for instance, to find out about the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah and some years later that many African-Americans observe Kwanzaa.

I’m a celebrator from way back—I like to honor not only the big things in life like birthdays, anniversaries, Weihnachten, Christmas and New Year’s, I also find immense joy in little things, such as sunsets, waking up to the face of my sweet dog, Abbey, and Purple Tuesdays—when many of us folks at work wear purple. (You can imagine how thrilled I am that the Acorn staff is also having Ugly Holiday Sweater Wednesdays throughout December!) Basically, I appreciate any reason to celebrate.

Just recently, for example, I was excited when a co-worker told me about Singles Day in China on Nov. 11. It turns out the website alibaba.com reinvented a decadesold celebration of bachelors there, and, according to MarketWatch.com, “it has become one of the most profitable manufactured holidays in history.”

That got me to wondering about other festivities around the world at this time of year, and here are some I found. If there are others you know of, by all means please share them.

In Sweden, Dec. 13 is St. Lucia Day, which honors the thirdcentury patron saint of vision. Girls dress in long white gowns with red sashes and wake their families by singing and serving coffee and a traditional saffron bun.

The Irish hold religious celebrations from Dec. 24 until Jan. 6, with Dec. 26 being St. Stephen’s Day, when kids go door to door singing and asking for money.

Ukrainians celebrate Sviata Vechera, or Holy Supper, on Dec. 24, and honor “didukh,” grandfather spirit, with wheat stalks.

There are also many different new year’s celebrations, such as the Chinese New Year, which will be celebrated on Feb. 19 in 2015, and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which will begin the evening of Sept. 13, 2015.

Diwali, which is celebrated in India, is the Hindu New Year, also called the Festival of Lights. It falls on the 13th day of the Month of Asvina, which can be October or November. During a five-day celebration, Hindus illuminate their homes and gardens as a way to give thanks for the past year’s blessings and to light the way for good fortune to come.

Omisoka is the New Year’s Eve celebration in Japan. Families gather for late dinner around 11 p.m. Dec. 31, and at midnight many visit shrines. A bell is struck 108 times to symbolize the desires believed to cause human suffering.

In Finland, there’s a fortunetelling ritual on New Year’s Eve, and Ecuadorians offer a list of their faults to a straw man, who represents the old year. The straw man is burned at midnight in hopes the faults will vanish as well.

As wonderful as it is that so many different celebrations exist, I think there should be at least one global celebration annually that unites all of us—call it Happy World Day, during which we would honor the fact that we all are citizens of the same planet.

However, no matter if you celebrate Christmas, Weihnachten, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Diwali or whatever, I wish you all a lovely time of joy and merriment with your loved ones.

Happy Holidays, everyone, and all the best in 2015!

Ela Lindsay is a single, free- lance writer in Ventura County. To catch up her bimonthly columns, visit www.theacornonline.com and type in “Life in the Single Lane.” For comments, email her at Lindsay.Ela@gmail.com.


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