Most people find their birthdays
special and memorable. Maybe because birthdays only come once in a year. It is
an occasion when a person celebrates the anniversary of their birth. Birthdays
are usually celebrated in numerous cultures, often with a gift, a party, or a
rite of passage. Even many religions celebrate the birth of their founders with
special holidays like Christmas and Buddha’s birthday. Of course during
birthdays, a person’s age also adds up to another year and when reaching
age-specific milestones, it confers into particular rights and
responsibilities. At certain ages, one may become eligible to leave full-time
education, or become subjected to military in some countries, and have consent
to sexual intercourse, to marry and to marry without parental consent, to run
and vote in the election, to consume alcohol ad to obtain a driver’s license.
Many cultures also have their own way of
celebrating their coming of age birthdays. In Canada and United States,
families often mark a girl’s 16th birthday with a “sweet sixteen” celebration. Sweet sixteen parties mark a coming of
age, the point at which a person transitions into adulthood. Like a wedding,
this event can be extremely formal, casual or semi-formal. It can be celebrated
as modest parties at home with close family or large affairs with hired
stylists, DJs, yachts, expensive gowns and dresses, and hotel ballrooms. While
in Philippines, girls on their 18th birthday or boys in their 21st
birthday celebrate a debut. Debuts
happen when a Filipino girl customarily throws a large party, complete with her
own hand-picked entourage of 18 individuals or multiple sets of 18, and are
usually formal. Recent additions to the ceremony are the 18 treasures in which 18 individuals each present the debutante
with a gift. These usually also involves a speech from each individual.
In many parts of the world, an
individual’s birthday is celebrated with a party where a specially-made cake is
usually decorated with lettering and the person’s age, is presented. The cake
is traditionally studded with the same number of lit candles as the age of the
individual or a number candle representing their age. Then the celebrant will
usually make a silent wish and attempt to blow out the candles in one breath;
If successful, a tradition holds that the wish will be granted. In many
cultures, it is believed that the wish must be kept a secret otherwise it won’t
come true.
Of course, most countries also
celebrate the birthdays of historically significant people such as national
heroes or founders and are often commemorated by an official holiday marking
the anniversary of their birth. Catholic saints are remembered by a liturgical
feast. In some historically roman catholic and eastern orthodox countries such
as Italy, Spain, France, some parts of Germany, and throughout Latin America,
it is common to have a Saint’s day. It is celebrated much in the same way as a
birthday and is held on the official day of a saint with the same Christian name
as the birthday person.
Therefore, birthdays are celebrated
in most parts of the world. It is celebrated in different traditions and
cultures signifying its importance to a certain individual. Birthdays are not
only celebrations for a living person but also for those who have passed away. It
is a special occasion on which an individual looks forward to and will only
happen once in year. Birthdays are usually happily celebrated and a day when an
individual spends time with his/her family or close friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment