A few weeks ago, My oldest daughter (9th grader) asked me to help her with a speech. The topic was ‘Celebrations’.
One of the topics that came up after a little brainstorming was that of what I call “commercial celebrations”. Valentine’s Day falls into that category for me. Quite honestly, in the grander scheme of things, commercioal celebrations of this sort just add to the clutter we create in our lives and communities. How much wasted paper is created out of card production alone I wonder.
I will state now – and will mention this in future posts – that I have had a strong feeling about 2012 and it’s significance to the human race since I was a teenager. As it approaches, despite thinking for years that it may be a Donnie Darko type end of the world scenario, I have a strong feeling that it is in actual fact going to be a turning point in our collective thinking – a point of critical mass if you like. Perhaps the real dawning of the Age of Aquarius. In this coming age, I see that as a matter of necessity, humankind will become absolutely consciously aware of our wastefulness.
It will be an age where material things become less important. My optimism extends to an extended period of peace previously never experienced throughout recorded history. A wave of global community perhaps created through an environmental disaster, or the threat thereof.
So I return to Valentines Day.
It is one of those unnecessary commercial days on our calendar which I foresee to be a little more muted this year due to the realization that collectively we can no longer pretend to afford such trivialities. Global recession is a warning sign.
Watch this space.
