“I celebrate myself, and sing myself”: so begins Walt Whitman’s classic poem, “Song of Myself.” Thanks to my poetry class, I’ve been thinking about this piece a lot lately. But what exactly is Whitman talking about? What does it mean to celebrate myself?
A quick Google search defines “celebrate” as "commemorate an event or acknowledge an important event with some kind of activity or ritual performance." We celebrate momentous occasions: birthdays and anniversaries, graduations and weddings. But these are events, not people. We don’t celebrate people, unless they’re famous historical figures with a day of their own that sometimes gets us off of school. We don’t celebrate random people who aren't known worldwide or upon whom history hasn't bestowed a form of significance. And we certainly don’t celebrate ourselves.
But should we?
As I write this, I almost want to laugh, to play this off as a joke so that no one will think I'm vain for even suggesting that I or any other non-famous world-impacting people might be somehow a momentous event. But what if no one found it vain?
What if we celebrated ourselves?
What if we treated a person as an event? An event is something that happens. Maybe, if we think of a lifetime as the duration of an event, then the person living that lifetime is the event itself. Earth goes around the sun a million times, and for something like a hundred of those times, a certain person lives on it. They didn’t before, and unless you believe in reincarnation, they won’t again after. The person is an event in the history of the earth.
And this event, this person, is arguably unique. Of course, we all have things in common with each other: shared cultures, similar hairstyles, the same taste in movies. Those are the things that allow us to relate to each other and make meaningful friendships. But no two people are the exact same combination of traits. No two people, even identical twins growing up in the same household, have had the exact same experiences. All human beings are made up of atoms forged by stars that have become supernovas. But no two people have the exact same combination of atoms.
We are each made up of billions upon billions of atoms, and we are each experiencing the world every second of every day of our lives. The odds of someone with your specific composition of atoms and experiences existing are astronomically slim, and yet here you are, reading this article.
Not only are you unique, but you are momentous. Sure, you probably don’t have the kind of worldwide renown that kings, presidents, and freedom fighters have, and you are one of seven billion alive right now, but you are nonetheless a significant part of the world. How many people have you interacted with today? Who have you passed by on the street, smiled at, held a door open for, asked about their day, shared your notes with, or told a joke to? And those other people who saw your smile or heard your joke were just as inclined to spread it as well. Now think about all the times that you have initiated such a thing, and how far it must have spread each time, beyond your awareness. That is the true spread of your impact and that impact is momentous, vital and significant.
And that could happen in just one day. How many people have you interacted with in your lifetime? In how many little ways have you shaped other people’s days, without even thinking about it? And what about the times that you did mean to shape their day – when you visited a friend who was having a bad day, or helped your brother move into his apartment, or gave a sandwich to a homeless person? Those especially are ways that you have affected the world, ways that meant something to the recipients.
Since your impact is momentous, you therefore are also momentous. You are important, an event that is unique and worthy of celebration. Everyday should be observed this way; Celebrating oneself isn’t vanity. It’s well-deserved.
So go on and celebrate yourself. Give yourself a break from criticism for a day. Get yourself a present; throw yourself a party. Reward yourself for your impact and delight in your own uniqueness. Give yourself attention; you deserve it. You are a momentous event.
Celebrate it.
