I love celebrating the holidays as much as the next person but I just can't take it anymore. I know you're probably thinking, "This girl is crazy" or "What is she talking about?" Well, allow me to explain.
Back in my good old days (the '90s and early '00s), Christmas was about going over to my family's houses and spending time with them to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Nowadays, Christmas is all about the presents, the amount of money you receive from relatives, the perfect decorations, and the perfect Christmas dress. New Year's Eve was another holiday where I spent time with family. We popped opened a glass of champagne (sparkling apple juice for the younglings) and counted down. I remember sitting with my crazy light up glasses in my Aunt's house watching Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve special. People my age seem to be heading to parties, getting wasted and kissing someone at midnight.
St. Patrick's Day and Cinco De Mayo are celebrated with drinking; lots and lots of drinking. People do day drinking and night drinking, heck all day drinking. The Fourth of July is celebrated by having BBQ's and (personally, illegally) setting fireworks for the weekend. What happened to the meanings of these holidays? Where did they go?
Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. It is not about how many present you have underneath the tree. It is not about the big Christmas dinner Grandma cooks. New Year's Eve is to celebrate the 'new year' that is about to come. It is not an excuse to get drunk and kiss a stranger when the clock strikes midnight. St. Patrick's Day is a religious holiday. It is to celebrate St. Patrick himself. It is not another excuse to get drunk. Yes, the Irish love to drink but that isn't what the holiday is about. Cinco De Mayo is a celebration of the day Mexican Army's unlikely victory over the French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. It is not Mexico's independence day. It is not yet another excuse to drink margaritas and take tequila shots.
The Fourth of July is about celebrating America's Independence (July 4th, 1776). The holiday is normally celebrated by communities having firework shows. In New York, fireworks are illegal for a person to have in his or her possession. People still get a hold of them and set them off the day of and even days before the fourth of July.
The reason why I can't stand celebrating these holidays anymore is because people have lost sight of their meanings. All these holidays mean is another party, another day to drink, and another day to take aesthetic pictures that fit your Instagram feed. If you celebrate any of these holidays, remember that there are meanings behind all of them. Don't forget them.
