Written By: Donna VIctoria Bell | Janurary 6, 2022
As many come from celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas, and now transition into celebrating the New Year, various other holidays and national days are overshadowed and lost due to the traction of the more prominently celebrated holidays. As we look to a New Year, we should recognize the lesser-known holidays which may bring the smallest and weirdest of joys needed to produce a smile to everyone’s face during these hard times. If you are wondering about what holidays you could have possibly missed, did you know about the Buddhist Holiday Rohastu, aka Bodhi Day, which is the day of celebrating Buddha Siddhartha Gautama’s enlightenment through meditation, tea, and cookies or Yule (which is more modernly pronounced as Jul), a Pagan holiday celebrated even by Vikings to recognize the Winter Solstice and various gods including Odin?
One major holiday that people seem to forget about is World Religion Day on January 16th founded by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá in the United States. The holiday’s purpose is to provide a sense of communication and understanding between various religions and cultures and promote common themes found in various cultures. It is important to acknowledge and respect other religions’ holidays which may not hit the front cover of a newspaper or news headline. This can include the Hindu holiday on January 14th, Makar Sankranti, which celebrates a time of peace and prosperity as it comes along during the ending of winter and the beginning of a hopefully rich spring season for crops. Although it may not be a holiday you celebrate, holidays that get overshadowed by marketing and celebrity drama help remove the traditions associated with various cultures. Knowledge of other cultural holidays can also promote empathy and understanding among various cultures. Being aware and contributing to a sense of community and unity, even without your active participation in the holiday, allows the traditions to persist and not be forgotten.
Of course, besides the religious holidays that exist in other cultures, there are many other fun national days that occur all throughout January which may just provide you with enough entertainment and joy to make the winter month a little bit more enjoyable. One holiday coming up on January 2nd is World Introvert Day. After non-stop months of celebration and social interaction, gift-giving, and positive wishing for a great new year, it may be great to know that there is a day where it’s okay to just be by yourself. During this time where the Covid-19 Omni-variant is present and seemingly growing more contagious everyday, it is more than overdue to just take a day for yourself, stay at home, and drink a nice cup of tea or coffee while reading a book or while binging a show you have been slacking on.
Whether it being a silly national day like National Whipped Cream Day on January 5th, which I recommend to get a bit more adventurous and dare a bunch of friends to have a whipped cream battle or an unofficial holiday such as Old Rock Day on January 7th, it is sure to be a leap of fun with a possible lead to a new hobby with a justifiable day backing your whacky behavior.
