Birthday Celebrations
As I tick off another birthday, I found myself wondering what the origin of the birthday cake was (more on that later) and the three really important parts of every birthday. A quick summary of what I found researching the birthday cake:
*It seemed to date back to Ancient Greece. Most historians recognize the Egyptians and Romans for the early adoption of the birthday cake…and the real biggie was the 50th birthday. It was later made popular in Germany in the 19th Century. Birthday cakes were the domain of the wealthy until the industrial revolution made ingredients and the process cheap enough for the masses to begin celebrating one’s birthday.
*The candles were the result of blowing out the fire and the resulting smoke was said to carry the wishes of the birthday person up to the gods. Most credit Artemis, the goddess of the moon, as the creator (or reason) of the candle. The tradition of adding a candle for each year was said to originate in Germany and they added the extra candle as “the light of life” for the hope of making it another year.
While once only for the wealthy, birthdays have become major events. for everyone. The parties have become extravagant, the presents abundant, and the celebrations lengthy. But here are the three things I have found to be really important…do these three things and the birthday person (and giver) will feel really good:
Celebrate It. Enough with the “oh, don’t worry about it” or “I don’t celebrate”…that is crap. Getting through the year is tough and if it was good enough for kings, queens, and the wealthy to celebrate, it sure should be something we spend a day doing. Each of us is a king or queen so we should take a day and remember we are special.
Birthday Cake: get a dang cake. If someone doesn’t get you a cake, you better check who you have as friends and family. As referenced above, this is the stuff of legend and everyone deserves a sweet. Don’t forget the candles- light that sucker up. Blow the candles out and pay attention to the smoke as those are truly your wishes headed to the heavens. And light that extra candle up…we are not promised tomorrow and should do everything we can to instill hope of another year.
Write A Card: Forget all the material things and you certainly don’t have to keep Hallmark in business…but get the heck off facebook, instagram, and all the social media outlets…write out a card and tell the birthday person how you feel about them. The world is way to fast, way too much instant gratification, and filled with fake sentiments. Take a few minutes and let someone know they are special.