Birthdays

In my sleepless hours I began to ponder birthdays. I don’t celebrate them, mine or anybody else’s, and I began to wonder why people do. I’ve never understood it, it seems such an alien thing to me so I turned to the god of all answers, google Laughing

Apparently, it was originally a pagan tradition. They thought that evil spirits came out on a person’s birthday each year so they lit candles on the day, one for each year or the person’s life and a few more to represent the coming years. The candles brought light to chase away the evil spirits.

The ancient Greeks believed that each person had a spirit that attended his or her birth, and kept watch. That spirit “had a mystic relation with the God on whose birthday the individual was born,” so says the book, The Lore of Birthdays.

The ‘happy birthday to you’ song is the most recognizable song in the English language, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, and started as a song for schoolkids.

In 1893, two Kentucky schoolteachers, Patty and Mildred Hill wrote “Good Morning To All.” The tune was published in a book for schoolteachers then in 1933, the song was in an Irving Berlin musical. The sisters hold the copyrights to the song although the words were changed, and it’s not clear who changed the words.

The owner of the copyright splits proceeds with the Hill’s estate, which is reported to be worth $2 million a year.

I wonder if anybody here celebrates birthdays and if so, why?

Parents
  • Nope.  Just another year gone.  Next year's will be a big one for me - 60.  Apart from getting a bus pass, it won't change anything for me.  People get so hung up on getting older.  I actually like getting older (aside from the few aches and pains).  I look back on what I was thinking even 10 years ago and realise how much I've come on since... so think what another 10 years will bring!  I'll be retired by then, too.  'Retired' in the most usually understood sense, anyway.  Free to do what I like.  And here's one who will never get bored, and so end up looking for a job again!

  • I don’t really think about age either and rarely remember how ‘old’ or how long on this planet either me and my son have been. I’ve never understood retirement either, until I realised people weren’t that keen on working or working in their particular job anyway and I realise that people stick it out until the magical retirement. I don’t understand why people don’t just change their jobs if they don’t like them but I guess for some people, the retirement years are more important to them than their working years. They seem to relate retirement with pleasure and working years as not pleasurable which to me means less pleasure in life, unless they have a longer retirement than working life. I’ve always known I’ll never retire, I love working too much, it kind of gives me a purpose and structure to my days but I don’t get bored, even when I’m not working so I do like to mix it up and work sometimes and not others but I’m not sure I’d ever give up working permanently. I do feel more ‘normal’ when I’m working although that’s never put me off not working and in many places I don’t feel that normal when I’m working anyway as I always seem to enjoy working more than most people I know which kind of keeps me in the minority. But I’m getting used to being in the minority now so that’s not too much of a problem anymore. 

Reply
  • I don’t really think about age either and rarely remember how ‘old’ or how long on this planet either me and my son have been. I’ve never understood retirement either, until I realised people weren’t that keen on working or working in their particular job anyway and I realise that people stick it out until the magical retirement. I don’t understand why people don’t just change their jobs if they don’t like them but I guess for some people, the retirement years are more important to them than their working years. They seem to relate retirement with pleasure and working years as not pleasurable which to me means less pleasure in life, unless they have a longer retirement than working life. I’ve always known I’ll never retire, I love working too much, it kind of gives me a purpose and structure to my days but I don’t get bored, even when I’m not working so I do like to mix it up and work sometimes and not others but I’m not sure I’d ever give up working permanently. I do feel more ‘normal’ when I’m working although that’s never put me off not working and in many places I don’t feel that normal when I’m working anyway as I always seem to enjoy working more than most people I know which kind of keeps me in the minority. But I’m getting used to being in the minority now so that’s not too much of a problem anymore. 

Children
No Data