Birthday celebrations are not essential to human life by nature. There were some tribes or societies where this wasn’t a norm. I don’t claim that celebrating a person’s birthday is an indispensable way to confirm and rejoice in life. Different means were used by different cultures to show similar approval and joy. In my opinion, a good birthday celebration is more important now than ever before. Why? In short, there are powerful forces working against our sense of self and the value of life, and we lack contexts and practices that emphasize the gift of life. Even if we shop at the same store frequently, for example, we could feel that in many respects we are treated impersonally and like a number. (It was already difficult when the check-out person’s position changed to one that required frequent rotation; the automated tellers have now highlighted it.) We have grown desensitized to anonymity because we are so used to it. It might even be comforting now. This is the environment that our children live in. Their devices entice them, but later sabotage the very relationship they guaranteed. Just picture the treachery! They are told by voices that ought to have been supportive that they must act a certain way in order to be accepted. They under constant pressure to perform. all the wrong directions. In ways to which they either fall short or, if they succeed, abandon their actual selves. Fearful are the predicament and isolation. And not just young people are affected by this issue. We all have to deal with the demands to give up the healthier ways of life, as well as the anonymity, depersonalization, and isolation. The best birthday celebrations are by no means a cure-all or miracle cure. But it can have a very humanizing effect. It provides an opportunity to express things that should be said. that want to be heard.
