Nullibicity
February 9, 2010
[fr. L. nullibi, nowhere] (or nullibiety, or nullibility)
the condition or attribute of being nowhere; non-existence
Here’s an interesting and somewhat negative point to ponder:
I was wondering the other day, as per the proximity of Valentines day, whether holidays are really only significant because no matter who you are, if you’re celebrating it, obviously you have not completely fucked up your life. Is any celebration, when you break it down, a way to merely reflect on your life and a small measure of success that you’ve achieved, simply by virtue of being able to celebrate? I mean, sure holidays have “themes”, like love, or the birth of Christ consumerism, or the rising of Christ the Easter bunny (???) [2], but what do we do? We gather around our family and loved ones, we eat junk food, and we generally deviate from the normal everyday existence we led up until that point, even if only for a few days. Really, though most holidays have the pretext of us being unselfish and caring towards others, what is happening is, “I can do this and be like this at this time, because I’m at least a little bit awesome in one form or another.”
For instance, take Valentines day. We celebrate our loved ones [1] and what they represent to us, but really we’re also subliminally thinking, “thank god I am not cold and alone, because I’m awesome.”
My proposal, based on the underlying context of all holidays that I have discovered, is to possibly abstain. It seems logical to deviate from yet another type of societal conformity that says, “if you don’t do this, you suck at life. We must all strive to not suck at life!”
[1] that we do naughty things with behind closed doors or in elevators
[2] is it just me, or is the leap from the resurrection of Christ to the concept of the Easter bunny just completely nonsensical? How did that happen? What is the transition from sacred Christian holiday to chocolate eggs, easter egg hunts, and a proliferation of things with rabbits decorating them? On the one hand, I’m glad I’m not a Christian, but on the other hand, if I’m celebrating rabbits and chocolate for no reason once a year, I’d like a goddamn explanation.
Striving not to suck at life is a pretty noble goal. The trick is to define “suck” and “not suck” in a way that is meaningful to you, instead of just conforming to social stereotypes of what it means to be successful.
As for the Easter thing, it’s all about spring and renewal and all that jazz. Pagan holiday co-opted by Christian symbolism (and then re-co-opted by corporate interests who realized that it was easier to sell bunnies and eggs than martyrs on crosses).
Also, the renewal of life symbolized by eggs and baby animals isn’t so different from the resurrection story, in that both are meant to represent a sort of rebirth.
So, there is your explanation. Now go eat some Mini Eggs.
I wasn’t too worried about conforming to social stereotypes, lol, but you raise a good point. I guess I was wondering about how they could be profoundly disturbing if you took a close enough look.
Also, I feel like an idiot for asking about the easter thing– I should have known that, lol.
I don’t see why celebrating your own successes is a bad thing, though. If you’re completely selfish and never consider the plight of those less fortunate than you, OK, there are some moral questions there, but ignoring that possibility, I don’t see why celebrating a successful life (whatever that means) is “profoundly disturbing.”
It could be viewed as profoundly disturbing, I think, when you do focus on those less fortunate who may not be celebrating holidays and why that might be. I was in a weird and sobering mood about advantage vs. disadvantage when I wrote this, lol.