What’s The Big Deal With Birthdays?

I am going to start this article off a little differently than usual by first speaking about where the idea of celebrating birthdays came from. Of course, in order to understand where on earth the idea of birthdays came from, you have to first understand time and have a way to mark time. So as a result birthdays did not exist until the calendar did, and no, I’m not talking about the calendar that now hangs to your wall or is slapped on your kitchen fridge. But rather the Julius Caesar calendar believed to have been created sometime in 45 B.C.E.

Scholars believe that the first mention of birthdays was the Egyptians in 3,000 B.C.E, but the birthday of a ‘common man’ was not until the Romans in 27 B.C. Of course in the problematic way of the world female birthdays were not celebrated until the 12th Century. So now that we know where on earth birthdays come from, it leaves us with this question: what’s the big deal?

Birthdays tend to really split a room as some people love theirs and tell everyone, and others hide the date and don’t do anything to celebrate. I want to know more about those who adore their birthday and make a big deal about that, and why that is. I should probably start off by saying I am someone who celebrates their birthday and I mean truly celebrates.

First, it kind of goes without saying after the year we had last year that life is fragile, we should make the best of the little things and self-love is essential. A birthday is not only a celebration of you but also of the year you’ve had, your growth and often a newfound day of gratitude. Now, I must say that looking up why other people think birthdays are a big deal showed me “We should make a very divided google search page and it the best of the little is up to you whether you celebrate or not things and self-love and you should not be is essential.” judged either way.

It might sound kind of silly but birthdays make a good excuse to get your group of friends together for a good time, which is something that becomes a rarity in adult life because of conflicting schedules and numerous commitments. So really what I discovered when writing this article is that birthdays mean different things to different people and that is why they can be a big or small thing. However, after the year we’ve had I am definitely going to celebrate being alive and kicking for another year even if it is just with parents, a glass of wine and a local takeaway.

Words by Kirsty Taylor

Art

Inmaculada Puebla

By Inmaculada Puebla. Born in Madrid, where she studied arts at the Universidad Complutense and completed her bachelor’s degree in piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Music of Madrid. She has completed a master’s degree in Art & Design from the Polytechnic University of Leeds, UK. Inmaculada has participated as a speaker in numerous courses and masterclasses, and she’s been awarded first prizes in poetry, painting and drawing. She’s designed and collaborated in many exhibitions in Spain and around Europe, with the UK and Luxembourg being her main source of inspiration and influence in her style.