Why birthdays?

Why do we celebrate birthdays?

When I was younger, my birthday was easily the best day ever (with Christmas a close second). As I got older, they became less special. Now, people will have me believe that my best days are behind me, even though i’m only halfway through life!

Birthdays arguably began over 5,000 years ago, when Egyptians would celebrate the day Pharoah was crowned king. The date he became a god.

Birthday cakes came to the masses only 200+ years ago thanks to lowered costs during the Industrial revolution.

Our beloved Happy Birthday song is only around 100 years old.

Before computers, it was extremely difficult to track things. Maybe, that’s why birthdays were celebrated so religiously.
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Because the cost to track things like birthdays these days is effectively zero, what would happen if we track meaningful moments and contributions as well?

We have a tradition of doing this for loved ones when they pass.

What if we kept a best hits montage of meaningful things we’ve done and learned, and kept adding to it year by year?

How would that affect us and those around us?

Thanks for caring!

with gratitude,

Anwell Tsai