Birthday

Who needs religion, when we can create miracles for each other?

In ancient times, we celebrated the recurrence of stars and seasons. The Sun. The Moon. The eclipse; A new year. A new summer. A new harvest. The collective spirit of the tribes rhymed with the dance of heavens.

Slowly, we pay periodic tribute to pristine conceptions of values and ideals. From the immutable beliefs on Vice and Virtue, the realisms of Caprice and Tragedy, to the rivalrous egoisms of Order and Hope – they are the gods we personify.

In contemporary society, people become the divine. Don’t get me wrong, we still admire the slipping sun, and are moved by noble notions of Justice and Truth. But our focus gyrates to ourselves – the human, the individual, the self. We come to glorify influencers, writers, presidents, friends, lovers – and us.

There is a sort of religiosity in this act. When we wake up, instead of chanting a religious mantra, most would scroll through social media to be affected by the individual stories and personalities across the world. When it comes to romance, we expect to find spiritual communion with a figure made of flesh and blood. In politics, we predominantly believe in authenticity, self-reliance, and the infinite power of human will and persistence. Crucially, the most important day we celebrate to a person is the day they are born.

We might find wisdom interrogating the point of birthdays: in reality, miracles don’t fall from the sky – they are created by other people. By the little gestures they did, the subtle words they gave. An encouragement, an apology, a compliment. A consolation, a correction, a confession. One by one, they make the world a better place, the recipe of which is nothing but people.

My birthday is over quite a while, but it only prompted me to reflect on its meaning now. My final message is thus: no matter who you are, no matter how long we have met, I’m grateful to all you who have crossed my paths. Thank you, because you made my life somewhat a miracle.

In return, I will make yours too.