On Birthdays

I know this will generate some heat, but here it goes all the same.

I don’t condone the celebration of birthdays. Here is my reasoning.

A. While I think that it is cool to have a day every year where every individual is celebrated individually, it seems counter intuitive to celebrate the one thing that makes them the same as everyone else. We were all born. What makes the day we happen to be born on the essential thing about us to be celebrated.

B. On your birthday, your original birthday, you did not really do anything. It seems that if anyone should be celebrated on that day it should be your mother. On our birthday’s instead of asking our parents for presents we should be presenting gifts to our mothers.

C. I worry that in celebrating individuals’ births instead of celebrating things that make them unique or important steps that they have taken we end up celebrating mediocrity. For example, celebrating the day that a child learns something important annually, such as first words, or first steps, or first questions seems a worthier cause for celebration. Likewise, a continued reminder can accompany such traditions to continue building upon the skill or event that is being celebrated. We are better served by celebrating the day a person is potty trained than the day a person is born. If having to earn a special day seems unfair, I suggest celebrating the day a child is named regardless of whether this day occurs before, after, or during birth. Why celebrate only being when we can celebrate being unique!

D. I understand that in the past survival was a big deal. A successful birth was worth celebrating. Subsequently, any year that a child happened to survive was also a big deal. This is no longer the case. mortality during birth is not common place anymore, at least not in the United States and other well off nations. The same can be said about infant and child mortality. The purpose of humanity is no longer simply to survive and to procreate. We can no longer afford to put these two parts of our life cycles on an annual pedestal. The purpose of humanity is not simply to grow physically but to grow intellectually.

I think that is about all I have to say. To sum up: A. Birthdays focus on individuals instead of on individuality. B. Birth is a feat accomplished by mothers not by their children. C. Birthdays celebrate a person’s existence instead of a person’s significance. D. Birth and survival (in healthy populations) are no longer so rare that they warrant celebration.