On the theme of festival
This is another writing piece for Converge.
A 100 word challenge. Okay I’ve expanded on one or two from the original I sent in. You know each time I do this, I tell myself I’m not good enough, I have no idea how to begin, but invariably I let my mind wander of its own accord. I let the ideas drift in and out and they begin to slowly form and then what emerges I hope is a bit of imagination mingled with some words, hopefully sensible ones.
Festival
We had lived in the dark for so long,
We were afraid to step into the light.
We were scared.
We held hands; created a chain.
The bravest went first.
I wasn’t one of them.
One by one we moved forward, shielding our eyes
Intrepid explorers moving slowly into the unknown.
One foot leading the other.
We looked up and there it was – the sun.
Congruent with warmth; a beautiful glow.
The war had done its best to destroy what we had,
But there had always been hope.
It’s why we call this day the Festival of Hope.
Because hope as they say…really does spring eternal.
Festival
War had turned day into night.
We had to shelter in the deepest recesses of the caves.
We dare not venture out. Foraging for food. Always wary. Always in the dark.
We knew no different.
But today we were courageous.
Today, we no longer felt afraid of what was out there.
The guns had fallen silent.
The war had stopped.
Today we celebrated life.
We mourned the dead.
We saw a future.
Each year we celebrate
We celebrate we are alive.
The festival reconnected us with each other.
It showed us the way.
The road we must take.
A festival of life
The word festival conjures up party fever. Fireworks. Eating and drinking. Having fun. Fancy dress and dancing in the streets. We have all sorts of festivals. We have food festivals. We have Pride. We have the Notting Hill Carnival; winter festivals and even a summer solstice festival, so why not have a global festival of life. In which we all celebrate what it means to be living. All of humanity coming together to celebrate what is meaningful in our lives. Just imagine the whole world partying. Guns falling silent as the hate subsides. Just imagine.
Does it need a festival?
Imagine what life could be like if warring factions came together and instead of violence we had love.
Imagine what life could be like if governments would stop bickering; put the needs of others before their own.
Imagine what life could be like if we condemned hate to the gutter. If we had the opportunity to celebrate life, instead of running on a constant hamster wheel.
It doesn’t need a festival does it, because we should celebrate our lives every single day.
And today as the day begins anew, I intend to do just that.
Let’s celebrate life
We all experience death. Death being a natural part of life. We can’t stop it and nor should we want to. From a young age, we witness the death of beloved pets, then in the natural order of things, grandparents, parents and siblings. Sometimes it doesn’t work out that way, the natural course of death taking a different turn. We never know when our time is up, so let’s celebrate life right now. Let’s occasionally step off the hamster wheel and enjoy life, because in reality that’s all we have. Will it improve things? It just might.
