I wish this winter was over
Talking about the weather? Yes and not quite.
Valentine’s day, mardi gras, fat thursday, their continued and renewed successe must be in not small part because they fall towards the tail end of winter, when people really need some fun and sweets to not end it all in a village bonfire of desperation.
Easter, the spring festival, the renewed promise of a future of abboundance is all too far to lift our spirits, lets give in to some sin instead, love, gluttony, masquerading our deep tiredness, sickness, unhappiness, with a good show of chaos.
This allure is clear to me, over the course of the years I have come to appreciate the fundamental need that many traditions fulfill, humbly, surely, unassumingly, and yet so perfectly.
Is this why the older you get the more “traditional” your views drift?
There is comfort in tradition, nostalgia for sure plays a big role, but these are young people explanations of a need they do not (yet) feel, a need for a set of values, a society if you will, that takes care of our needs instinctively, in a millenarian, battle-tested (sometimes literally) system of belief.
Tradition serves needs that are sometimes at odds, if not at all replaced, by our modern lives.
Back to the carnival, does the modern man need a special day to dress up, play mischief and indulge?
Not at all, the modern man can live a full life and be a regular part of society doing just that.
Is there then “too much of a good thing?”
Absolutely! Without a doubt in my mind, the cycles of time, seasons, festivals and traditions were developed to strike a balance, a balance (of the force?) that I believe we are feeling is lacking.
So yes, I was never one for joining celebrations on comand, how can you plan fun?, but I will take part, I will be one of many in this crazy season of excesses, because I wish this winter was over.