Why Do we Celebrate the Seasons?

A birthday celebration puts a smile on our faces and gives us an excuse to be a ‘queen’ or a ‘king’ for the day, enjoying something special at least one day of the year. Many of us even go so far as to mark specific birthdays with explosive party plans. The sweet 16 birthday; the 18 and ‘I can vote’ birthday; the 21 and ‘I can drink’ birthday; the ‘I’ve lived HALF A CENTURY’ 50 birthday.

We do this with a wedding, first car, first kiss, first job anniversary, retirement, and graduation. These are huge milestones and accomplishments which we have reached, fulfilling our sense of purpose.  

When there is a sense of purpose, we wake up every morning more engaged with and working towards our purpose — life becomes more manageable, less complicated, and stressful. We become more mono-focussed, like an arrow flying towards its target, and the mind feels somehow taut with less space for negativity to seep in.

The holidays and events we share as a community, such as New Years’, Independence Day, or thanksgiving, while adorned with seasonal decorations, all seem to focus on the event more so than the season, much like the anniversaries and birthdays we celebrate.

So, what about the seasons themselves? Once upon a time, the change of seasons was the most important celebration to which our ancestors looked forward. They marked our survival and offered a sense of relief to which our modern life has made less critical. After all, when it is too cold, we have only to turn the heat up or (for the most part) easily add that extra blanket. 

So, Why should we continue to celebrate the seasons?  Well, after consciously attuning and aligning with nature for a significant time, I have realized that we are reflections of nature and the universe. We benefit emotionally and physically through this alignment. Allowing myself to flow with the tendencies of our natural world brought great ease, and quite frankly, immense pleasure. The seasons are a huge part of how nature guides our internal temperament.  

I am bold enough to say that this need to align with the seasons is something we all share as humans, regardless of our culture and belief systems. I love that in the Christian Bible, Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that life is full of seasons or times when specific actions or feelings are more natural than others. I believe this is part of God’s design for humanity: to know seasons, to know change, to recognize that time is passing, to live with an awareness that we have the potential to grow.