Jan 14 2009
Why Do We Celebrate Our Birthdays?
Birthday- the day in each year that is the anniversary of the day somebody was born. It is usually commemorated with a celebration of gathered friends and family in which they present gifts for the birthday person. Hispanics celebrate the quinceanera in which the 15-year-old girl becomes an adult. Bar mitzvahs- the Jewish rite of passage in which they celebrate the 13th birthday. Sweet sixteens and elegant eighteens.
But what gave the idea to celebrate our birthdays? And why do we receive gifts on that day? Are we being rewarded for living another year? What did we do on that day that is so celebratory? Yes, we were born that day, but it could have been the day before or the next day after that we were born. We just happened to have come out that day. I understand that that was our first moment of life, our first breath, our entrance into the world. But that doesn’t really make that day so special. It seems almost selfish to make it special and to receive gifts. People give gifts because they’re grateful for that person, perhaps for being born and alive, but shouldn’t they thank the parents for that then? There was no work on our part to just be born. Why do we receive presents then? Who came up with this ritual as well?
