Birthday Definition and Meaning
Birthday is the anniversary of a person ‘s birth. It is an event that therefore takes place once a year and is usually celebrated with a party. For example: “Martín invited me to his birthday party, which will be held on a boat”, “For my next birthday, I want to travel to Brazil”, “My mom gave me a soccer ball for my birthday”.
In most cultures, birthdays are festive events that include a reunion with loved ones (family, friends) and the giving of gifts to the birthday person. These days, therefore, play a very important role in socialization, since it is possible that the person honored meets others with whom they do not usually have frequent contact during the rest of the year.
Of course, this last point is not necessarily positive: many people feel compelled to greet others once a year despite showing no genuine interest in them, and this is inevitably perceived from the other side, which makes forced congratulations an absurdity, an unnecessary waste of energy and time.
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In the case of children, birthday parties usually include the participation of clowns, magicians or entertainers, who encourage guests to develop different games. There are also piñatas, which are balloons filled with candy and prizes that, when popped, release their contents for children to take.
Greeting someone for their birthday is a tradition that goes beyond the party. It is possible to communicate by phone or send an email to the subject even if one is not invited to the party or when no meeting has been arranged.
Another very important symbolic element in the birthday is the cake (also called tart or cake ). Birthday parties usually end when said cake is served, to which candles are placed so that the honoree blows them out while making three wishes. The guests, meanwhile, sing birthday songs like “Happy Birthday” or “Las mañanitas”.
But the birthday celebration also has a profound side, which exceeds the colorful and noisy confines of a banquet party. Why do we need to be honored every year on the date of our birth? Do we deserve such congratulations? There are many people who take advantage of the birthday to carry out a kind of self-assessment, a review of the achievements and failures of the last twelve months, to try to improve in the following period. However, for most it is nothing more than an excuse (sometimes unwanted) to meet with a group of people and receive material gifts.
There is a dangerous relationship between birthday culture and believing that we deserve a congratulations for the simple fact of staying alive, that it is not necessary to strive to achieve new goals, to be worthy of conserving the tiny circle of earth and oxygen that has been given to us. given without offering anything in return. Unfortunately, not many people are aware that their existence is no more important than that of a tree, an elephant or a mosquito.
On the other hand, there is the custom of receiving gifts on our birthday, which is strongly linked to the need to be adored, as if it were an offering to a god. Of course, this can be interpreted as a simple and innocent way of expressing to someone the joy that their existence gives us, that they continue by our side; But material gifts are not always taken as a spontaneous gesture of celebration, rather they are usually considered an obligation and, for many, the heart of the celebration.
