a wise & lovely friend on FB who also happens to be a
mother pointed out to me that Mother's Day comes from a pacifist reaction tothe American Civil War, which is excellent, but that's not what it has become.
if on this day mothers, fathers, grandparents, sons, daughters etc engaged in
massive protests against war, against the current right-wing inhuman
governments across the world, voter suppression etc, I would be very much in
support of such a celebration.
someone else on Twitter mentions that the reason to
celebrate mothers is because we wouldn't exist without them. while this is
true, I can't help thinking about children who have been abused and
murdered by parents, shoved in buckets & drowned, sold into sexual slavery.
I can't help thinking about wonderful people who would make excellent parents,
but who suffer miscarriage after miscarriage, who don't have the big bucks
necessary for fertility treatments or adoption. I can't help thinking about
children whose parents died or parents whose children have died & these damn holidaze are reminders every year
of how much they ache for the ones they love. so yes, holidaze make me uneasy.
at the same time, I do enjoy rituals & celebration (but
I will also eat turkey in the middle of July) & I also paradoxically enjoy
knowing that there are people out there who share my thoughts & my values. I
am fortunate to be married to a man who is my kindred spirit, thank goodness,
because without him there are times when I think I'd have to become a hermit,
so disenchanted am I by the bah bah bahs.
Another FB friend and her husband don't celebrate these
arbitrary celebrations but they find that they miss celebrations, so have come
up with their own, such as Big Orange Rock Day. I like the idea of this. I
think celebration is important. I am a big fan of International Yarn Bombing
Day or holidays that haven't been co-opted by Halmark, but that incite creativity
& individuality.
Another group of friends organized a poetry show in support
of mothers & I thought that was fantastic. I think there's great scope for love,
creativity & imagination in this world.
to some extent, I am disappointed by social media. I thought
when I joined FB that I would see evidence of creativity & individuality,
when what I've seen most is evidence of similarity, of group think &
bandwagonism. there are some rays of light around though & I cling to them.
4 comments:
Big Orange Rock Day. That sounds excellent.
I find I excuse myself from social media around holidays like this. not much I can do about the 3 months of christmas but yeah, I hear you.
yes, it has occurred to me to stay away from social media during holidaze but i don't want to let the droids win.
& i'd like a tee shirt that says "Big Orange Rock Day" :)
Yes.
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