Celebration

Bring gratitude out in the open with others, and you have celebration. Music and dance have important roles here. Some religious traditions, like the Jewish Hasidim and the African-American gospel churches, have great ways of celebrating the glory of being alive. I am not involved with such a religion, but I still find ways to get together with people and dance and sing with our whole hearts and bodies. A lot of discouragement can be counteracted when a bunch of people get together, raise their voices, move in some kind of unity, and put their attention on all the good things in life!

I love this quotation from the wedding scene in Fiddler on the Roof:

God would like us to be joyful even when our hearts lie panting on the floor
How much more should we be joyful when there’s really something to be joyful for
To life, to life, l’chaim
L’chaim, l’chaim, to life!
...And if our good fortune never comes,
Here’s to whatever comes
Drink l’chaim...to life!