Last month I published this post on Instagram, a simple graphic stating 6 things that I personally think should be celebrated. I didn’t go into too much detail in the caption but I think people seemed to understand what I was trying to say. The more I thought about it though, the more I realized I really wanted to elaborate on this topic.
We celebrate birthdays, weddings, engagements, birth – even death – in abundance. But what about those seemingly smaller milestones and moments in between? Those ones that almost always get overlooked yet are the building blocks to our one precious lives?
I personally don’t think those “in between” moments are small. In fact, they can sometimes be some of the most profound and transformative moments of our lives. Yet we don’t celebrate them. Okay, we might internally congratulate ourselves on it or perhaps write about it on Twitter and get a few “well done” comments from our followers.
But what about a real ritualistic celebration, like we do for so many other things?
I struggle a LOT with comparison in terms of where I am in my life. I don’t just compare myself to other people but I also compare myself to the adult woman that my younger self EXPECTED me to be at this age. I’m not married, have no kids, I’m not engaged and I don’t even own my own home yet.
I’m 29 years old and for all intents and purposes, I am massively behind where society expects me to me at this age. And I’m certainly behind where I hoped to be and where I want to be. Although I know that we all have our own timelines and life isn’t a race.
So my life at the moment is a LOT of those “in between” moments, whether I want it to be or not. There’s a lot I’m proud of, yet don’t celebrate. Because it’s not “the thing” to do. Because no one would want to purposely and actively do something to celebrate a moment in life that isn’t considered a “milestone”.
And that’s started to bother me a little bit.
I’ll buy my friends birthday presents. Attend family members weddings and celebrate their love and union. Congratulate a couple on their engagement by sending a card and a gift. Take someone out for a meal for getting an amazing promotion. Or buying someone a house warming gift.
But I’ve never had any of those things. So does that mean I (and other people who haven’t hit the “milestones”) don’t deserve to be celebrated, too?
Anyway, milestones are BS. Anything can be a milestone and we all deserve to be celebrated. Life is SO vast and long and multi-layered. There are so many things to do and achieve that are worth celebrating along with the “normal” things. Redefining what we SHOULD celebrate helps to rewire how we think about success.
So here are 10 things I think are worth celebrating:
Overcoming a mental illness
This one hits VERY close to home for me. Very close. Too close to really go into it properly but no-one has ever celebrated or congratulated me for overcoming my anxiety disorder, the one that literally ruined my life. I don’t want sympathy or praise but I truly think ANYONE who’s suffered with a mental illness needs celebrating because that shit is life ruining.
Friendships
We celebrate when we meet our partners, when we get engaged, when we marry. But why don’t we save the same sort of celebration for friendships too? Friendships are SO DAMN IMPORTANT so why aren’t we giving them the same service? More friendaversary parties please! Check out some of the best London venue hire options to throw a party, book a place in the Lake District or by the beach, and celebrate yourselves.
Kindness, charity and compassion
Ugh, this one bothers me to a ridiculous degree. Probably because I’m one of the kindest people I know and I don’t mean that in a big headed way but I really do have too much compassion and empathy sometimes. We can celebrate someone for getting a promotion at work but not someone else who’s raised hundreds for charity? Hmm.
Starting a business
Starting a business takes a lot of guts and courage and is DEFINITELY something that needs celebrating more. Imagine how many more people – normal people – would succeed in their businesses if they had that support?
Taking a chance and stepping out of your comfort zone
Whether it’s leaving a relationship, deciding to travel (or even move to another country!), quitting your job, trying a new hobby – there’s tons of things that can cause us to step out of our comfort zone. It’s not easy. But not celebrated nearly enough.
Removing toxic things from our lives
I personally think we need to have more “I’ve Broken Up With My Toxic Boyfriend” parties, don’t you? Learning how to manage relationships which don’t align with you is difficult.
Following our own path
This. Needs. Celebrating. Some people would be deviating from what you were “supposed” to do or heck, what your parents wanted you to do to be a bad things but I think having the courage to know what you want and following your heart to get it deserves more celebration and reward than what we give it.
Creating art
Why don’t we celebrate art more? Why don’t we spend more time at museums and exhibitions, rather than on our phones? Why don’t we support other people’s artistic passions more than we do? Whether that’s music or painting or poetry – let’s start celebrating art because what would life be without it?
Traveling
From someone who hasn’t done much traveling in their life but would very much like to do more, I think travel is definitely something worth celebrating. One of my favourite bloggers, Absolutely Lucy, I’ve been following since I started blogging in 2013 and I remember when she first went traveling, I was absolutely in AWE.
A physical achievement
No, I don’t strictly mean weight loss (although if this is something you’ve worked hard on for the right reasons, then YES you should celebrate it!) but I was actually thinking along the lines of running a marathon (or ANY distance, I am shocking at running), competing in a sports competition, winning a football match. All amazing things we rarely TRULY celebrate.
All these things NEED to be celebrated more in our society. I know they won’t be and this post is all just wishful thinking but I think that’s what I hate so much about the current society and culture we live in. We make no room for ritual and celebration of these little things. But in the meantime, we can always celebrate our own achievements.