For those of us who have watched or read "The Polar Express," it is practically impossible to not feel emotional during the final pages. There is something, some nagging, itching feeling, about our ability to believe in something, anything that seems to connect with each of us. While the film specifically refers to the magic of Christmas, it embodies the internal questioning of every individual. You have to believe; ergo, what will you believe in?
The holiday season brings about religious traditions and practices that have been custom for generations. While many still observe these timeless rituals, the present young adult generation has shifted away from practicing religion in recent years. Millennials are known to be more spiritual than religious. We have strayed from the religious traditions of our grandparents and found our own ways to achieve self-realization and question the elements that effect our souls.
Ever since we were children, we have learned to love the countless idiosyncrasies of ourselves and others. Something as simple as blowing out a birthday candle or wishing on the first, brightest star we see in an inky night sky have led us to believe in the magic of hope and wishful thinking. Remember those ridiculous chain emails that everyone used to send each other? The ones that you laughed at but secretly worried about while lying in bed late at night. A part of us believed that we might actually find the love of our life if we forwarded the email, and who knows? Maybe this inkling in the pit of our stomachs actually led to the budding of our first middle school love affair. Maybe just the belief that it was going to happen was enough to make it happen.
One of the most intelligent, enthusiastic teachers I ever had gave our class a piece of advice that has always stayed with me. He went off on one of his usual tangents in the middle of class one day, about what I do not remember so well, but toward the end of his spiel, he firmly exclaimed, “If you believe in something, then you’re at least halfway there.” This refers to almost anything in life! When we wish our hardest at exactly 11:11 for something like all the countries in the world to be at peace, or for every family to be together during the holidays, it doesn’t seem like a plausible desire; however, if you think about it, if every person on Earth wished for the same thing, then we would all start to do something about it. We would all believe that, together, we could be the positive change.
We believe in the magic of the sunrise and the charm in the way it is replaced by the moon each night. We believe in the enchantment and vastness of the ocean and are not afraid to express how incredibly in awe we are every time we stand before it. We believe in taking pictures on mountaintops and connecting with complete strangers over miniscule details of our daily lives, like a shared bus stop or fondness of the changing leaves. We believe in the fantastic, incredible, intimate parts of our loved one’s souls where we can get lost but find ourselves at the same time.
While we may not practice the same traditional religious customs as our ancestors, we practice other traditions and beliefs. We practice the art of baking the most delicious chocolate cake with our friends and promising that it will come out exactly the way it tasted as a little kid. We practice singing our hearts out with the radio when that special song comes on that brings us back to a place we used to know. We practice yoga. We practice shoe shopping. We practice anything and everything that makes us feel alive.
It is acceptable and encouraged for our generation to explore the Earth with a spiritual eye, an eye that searches for and believes in the power of fulfillment and joy. Our beliefs take us to all corners of the world. We are making new traditions and creating adventures that begin when we all take a big gulp of courage and embark, wholeheartedly, toward whatever we believe in. So as long as everyone has something to believe in, something that makes them hope for a brighter tomorrow, we are each one step closer to creating a happy life.
