Love it. New Year's is my favorite. I aim to celebrate it every morning as I journal and then end my yoga practice with shivasana--dying to the old self and being born again into the new! :) -bri

I don't really celebrate any special holiday for myself...I do go to gatherings on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter for others...but my own idea of my favorite holiday(holy day) are three days in my life that God gave to me...the day of my birth, which I hold sacred as God's gift to my parents and me, the day of my daughter's birth which, to me, is God's gift to her, her father and I, and the day that I started to massage, which to me is God's gift to me that I get to share with others. They might not be holidays for others, but they are special sacred days for me.

nice malika- a family culture built around celebration and inclusion- !

Thanksgiving and Christmas

Growing up in Trinidad where both Christmas and Diwali are public holidays I've always asked myself which one I liked better...Diwali became a public holiday here in the 60's and so has been a public holiday my entire life...it was always a big family festival but in the mid 80's started to grow as a big national festival as well. And so has been a national do since my teens as well. Whilst Christmas was always big for us as a nation as it was inherited from our colonial times on the island and the island was predominantly run by Catholic conventions. Many of my relatives were instrumental in that shift (Diwali becoming more national) and I myself used to do Indian folk dance when younger at festivities nationwide and have since been involved at the high school-although I attended a Presbyterian one and the festivities then were only marked as a formality although the majority of the student body at the top school were Hindu...that must have changed by now too but you can't blame a religious body for wanting to promote their religion at a school partly funded by them. And then I participated at a university and now my company level...and more and more I try to figure out which festival I like more?... When I was younger I more saw Diwali as holier time cause here people fast (non vegetarians dont eat meat for weeks starting off from the Nav Ratri -Durga festival) and the pooja rituals etc is a big deal. Being vegetarian I normally only eat fruits on the day before the pooja which I often sit for...or sometimes only drink water. So think when I was younger I more saw Christmas as the less religious one where was gift giving (cause here we dont do the diwali gift exchange much and even hindus do that more for christmas) and even more eating but less religious relevance as I'm officially Hindu and my family is and not Christian. I don't think I can decide though more so that through the years I've even really gotten into the religious aspect of Christmas too (seeing Jesus as a point of light in the universe...infact it is why I feel so affected by Easter since in my teens too)...for the past few yrs I've wanted to attend the Catholic Mass that Catholic Christians have here (I later found out that independently my mum and two brothers have had this desire too!) But so far for a billion reasons have not attended such a Mass. Perhaps I will this year? As a whole I think throughout my life way before I created the blog have been contemplating this thing call Universal Collective Prayer so...I've even tried to understand bout festivals not celebrated on my island especially since there is a vast world out there off it and beyond my Indo-Hindu roots too. So I've often wondered bout the North American Thanksgiving... on one hand I cant handle the mass killings of the poor turkeys on this day and especially in this age of multiculturalism...well cant we see the light and share peace and love with our dear brothers and sisters ...our feathered friends too? But of course people eat meat year round too...but I find Thanksgiving and Christmas so focusses around the bird in the centre as if it is a worship of the bird perhaps an animal sacrifice? And for sure this (animal sacrifice) is done literally in the Muslim festival of Eid Ul Addah no? But on the other hand the idea of family gatherings and a gathering to give thanks at that is so lovely...too bad done over a bird. Hence if I was American or had to celebrate Thanksgiving I'd think it lovely and do so but over a vege meal as so many are planning here at the Intent community from all I've been reading about. I guess the idea is you can embrace all religions and mulitculturalism as long as it does not clash with your core values whatever they may be and the idea is for all of us to respect that of the other...tolerance when we can't have acceptance...so as I can't understand the animals eating similarly I understand when non-Hindus (for instance) might not be able to accept some of my stuff... Happy and Blessed Holidays to All! Maybe we all will be able to truly sit in Universal Collective Prayer one day...

halloween my favrite holiday becase i like to decarate the house windows.

Mallika: I thought about your question while swimming laps at lunch today. I love all religious holidays, especially holy days in the Jewish and Islamic calendars - Hanukah especially touches a chord of hope within me, one of my most cherished possessions is a Menorah given to me by a close, deceased friend who was a Rabbi in life. As I learn about Diwali, I find that celebrations that are new to me touch me deeply too. Like Kurt, Christmas and Easter are two very special days in my life, partly, because I have celebrated them all of my life and partly, because of their universal nature. I reflected especially on the celebration of Christmas as honoring the archetype of the Christ. It is a holiday that holds truth for everyone: His birth, your birth, my birth, everyone's birth was truly "miraculous" - life is a miracle in itself. Surely angelic tongues vibrated with "peace on earth" and "goodwill to humankind" at our birth too - one of the reasons your father's request for vows of non-violence has touched me so deeply is because I believe our deepest and truest nature includes our being born with a compassionate and loving self - embracing the vow is coming to "remember" who we truly are. Surely that was cause for great celebration. The Christian Scripture's myth story of the Magi (Wise Men) bearing gifts to the Christ child was the Evangelist's way of promoting the universal recognition of the divinity of Jesus - as your father has eloquenty written, those same seeds of divinity are planted within us too! Finally, in the myth, Jesus was born in a stable because there was no room for him, he lay in a feeding trough. What has the birth story myth to do with us? I believe it teaches us that God is always, in a very special way, on the side of the marginalized, the outcasts, the lonely and despised among us. Our task is to comfort God living in those individuals and to work for justice and change so that everyone can live with dignity. The feeding trough bed - all of us are meant to become "food" for others, we must open ourselves and be willing to share the essence of who we are, our talents, our gifts, our energy - in order to discover who we truly are. Thank you for a great question. I hope you and your family have a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Love, Greg

Mallika, my hands down favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. For me Thanksgiving is a quiet time to reflect about the past year life then, giving gratitude to those folks who have given to me. This year I have been blessed with the success of Crunchless Abs. I am eternally grateful to the great team at Savvier. Plus, this is the biggest eating holiday of the year. I love to cook and have guests enjoy themselves. Maybe this year I'll serve something a little spicy in honor of your beautiful blog! Linda LaRue, RN MEd, ATC

And Mallika...btw I know I'm writing a million comments on here! :) But my family also historically has a tendency to play cricket during our christmas retreat as I like to call it cause we have at least two days back to back with boxing day being off too! Growing up I used to join in the matches too...less cricket as we are an ageing bunch now and not that many new borns! :) Of course Trinidad and the rest of what makes up the test playing identity known as the West Indies got cricket like India from the Brits... I plan to blog more into the Christmas season bout Trinidad's Christmas traditions and in particular bout parang music which I hold as synonymous with a 'Trini Christmas' something that we share in common with other places with some Spanish influence...hoping to get an interview with a Venezuelan 'oil' colleague who I understand is from the area in Venezuela it's similar to here in Trinidad of course not an actual musician but someone who at least will know bout the place. And perhaps I'll be able to flag down a singer-parandero or two as well...will see...blogging can be such fun at times!:)

Here I go posting again:) But had to say it ...Usha you are only 25! How on earth can you be saying you have grown old...even though you put it as 'old' I felt really sad to read that you at 25 have lost most of your interest in life and adventures! I immediately had this vision of me jumping up and grabbing each of your hands in each of mines and pulling you up to dash off and play with me! :) It's quite the opposite for me...I often feel society will think me weird since I'll be 34 this holidays...on Boxing day and still single...and truly single not divorced and now single or had one of those 'things' just like marriage and now single...I've always been single! In my 20s it used to be a time when well another year and my family might be asking bout well when...but into my 30s it just doesnt matter anymore! The only thing is I worry that society will come and tell me my time is up...and that Im too 'old' for real this time and I should stop playing the video games with the kids and this and that...I mean esp when I can no longer past for a 20something even by a long shot! And my parents are gone and I'm suppose to be like...But thing is I'd still want to be playing except society as I said might bleep me out! After all I won't be a child anymore. I always say I have a kinda Peter Pan Syndrome in a sense except I pay the bills and stuff too...and really am not afraid to grow up just a child at heart? But it's quite the opposite worry huh?! I think in your case as your child gets older you might find yourself discovering your inner child again through her...just wait till she is 5 or so...:) I think that happens with many adults and then there are the ones like me who never grew up in the first place! :( / :) - societal misfit perhaps? But really you should never lose your sense of adventure! Hope your young daughter rekindles that in you as she grows up! :) And perhaps I'll find a playmate that is closer to my age one of these days! :)

Mind as well do whatever would be the most fun for you and your family. I am jewish (technically speaking), but I get a christmas tree, and even believed in santa when I was little, since my mom's side is catholic. (Dad's side is jewish) The santa part I think is horrible lol, I would never lie to a child like that- it is too crushing when you find out the truth. ;) But I do enjoy getting into the spirit of things! Sounds like your parents handled it nicely. :)