“I don’t understand why you like birthdays so much, it’s just another day of the year.” I hear this all the time, people not understanding why birthdays are important.
Birthdays are important days, though many people try to breeze them off. They brush it under the rug, and try to ignore the fact that today is a day dedicated to them. I never got it, and I still don’t. A birthday is the one day out of year you get to tell someone that matters that they’re important. It’s a day fully dedicated to reminding them of how wonderful they are, and that they matter. Lavish gifts most certainly aren’t necessary(though more than welcome), just a reminder that they matter is needed: Cards, dinner, or an unexpected phone call will be enough to brighten a person’s day, hell, it may even brighten up their week. It’s a nice token that says, “Hey! I remembered you!.”
“Well, I don’t celebrate birthdays because I give nice Christmas gifts,” has been an excuse I’ve heard a few times from a few friends. Christmas? Christmas is the Christian celebration of Jesus’s Birthday. Not to mention, while Christmas presents are always a nice thing to get, an increasing number of people don’t celebrate Christmas. In fact, a lot of people don’t celebrate a winter holiday at all, while others celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the Winter Solstice, just to name a few. Christmas is a religious holiday targeted at many, when you buy Christmas gifts (or gifts for any holidays) you’re buying for multiple people at once, and not really completely dedicating yourself to the individual. So, while Christmas is a nice time of year to give, some may become offended since they’re aesthetic.
“You seem to expect a lot out of birthdays… What if I can’t afford something crazy?” As I said early, while lavish gifts are totally welcome, they’re also super unnecessary. A card in the mail costs under five dollars, and a phone call is part of the monthly phone bill. While most people say they don’t want to do anything for their birthday, they all almost always want something subconsciously. Putting you day aside, and having a netflix marathon with them, will more than likely make it an amazing birthday. Bake some cupcakes, and you’ve got a perfect birthday planned. It’ll show the person that they mean something to you, and that you want to celebrate them.
“Well, I always make sure to wish people a happy birthday on Facebook, it gives me notifications that always remind me! I can’t send them all cards.” The birthdays I’m referring to aren’t those of the over 800 friends you have on Facebook, I’m talking about the people who always call to say hello. The people you think of throughout the day, how they would’ve loved the person you met at work, or how they would’ve gotten a joke you saw online. That friend you’ve known for a while, or who you’ve just met, it doesn’t really matter. If the idea of losing them upsets you, they matter, and you should try your best to celebrate them, because if they didn’t have a birthday, you wouldn’t even know them.
“At the heart of it is the opportunity to tell someone ‘I’m glad that you’re alive.’ Those are the powerful statements. The world would be a different place if we lived that way, if we said and expressed these things, more than once a year.” These are the words of Jamie Tworkowski, founder and CEO of To Write Love On Her Arms, and author of “If You Feel Too Much.” In his book, Jamie touches upon birthdays, and why they’re important to him, and to his foundation. “I hope TWLOHA can be something like that, an attempt to say those things more often, to say that we are thankful for life and stories and certainly you and yours. I hope that we can be something like a gift, like a favorite song or some show that you remember, some piece of hope or life or strength to hold against the wall when they feel cracked or falling.”
Birthdays are only the start to helping those around you. Birthday’s are important. No one should ever go uncelebrated, especially on a day dedicated to them being born. Life is too fragile to not care.
If you’re interested in TWLOHA, or Jamie Tworkowski and his book, you can check them out here!
TWLOHA.com