There are a lot of holidays we celebrate, whether religious or not, that have become nothing more than an excuse to party (and maybe get time off work/school). But treating holidays as nothing but reasons to party means we loose a lot of what made them important in the first place. If we are going to celebrate something, celebrate it! This doesn't mean we can't have a party or enjoy ourselves, but some of our time should be spent actually doing something relevant to the reason for the holiday.
Take Veteran's day, for example. Many people observe Veteran's day in name only. Maybe they fly a flag or visit graves (though that really is more of a Memorial day thing), and many places do offer discounts for Veterans (or a complimentary meal, which is lovely), but quite a lot of people don't do anything that either helps or remembers our Veterans. And sadly we do this for a lot of other holidays as well.
There are a lot of ways we can celebrate with action instead of just window dressing. It all starts with looking into the whys of a holiday. What does it celebrate, why did it become a holiday, who does it honor? And often looking into the whys uncovers a whole trove of historical activities we can do that tie into the roots of the celebration! We don't have to follow historical traditions by rote either, we can totally update and modernize our observances, but knowing how people used to do things can help us continue to uphold those traditions, in our own way.
As witchy folks we have even more ways of taking action that supports a holiday. We can include spells and rituals designed to create change in ways that align with the holiday we are celebrating. We can share stories and raise awareness (because the more people who understand why our holidays are important, the more people there are that might also act in a way that affirms the meaning of the holiday).
Even something as simple as taking a moment to talk about why the holiday was started can create a meaningful moment. We can tie in that meaning to our decorations and leisure activities too, much like if you look into the history of Halloween or Winter holiday decorations you can learn about the traditions and folklore that inspired them. With added intention, our decorations can become more than just pretty things to hang about, they can build layers of understanding all around us.
I feel like some people think that honoring a holiday makes it less 'fun' or means they can't relax and have a good time. And there may be holidays that are more solemn for you as you learn more about them. But I don't think we loose anything by having less reasons to party (and honestly, if you want to have a party, just have a party, no need to tie it into an observance that may be very heart-wrenching for others). Taking the time to honor both the good and the bad lets us appreciate the good times even more, because we have those darker moments to contrast them against.
It's also okay to recognize that some holidays are mixed blessings. They may not be so black and white, fun or serious, but they may have bits of both. And we can build time for serious reflection and time for boisterous fun into our celebrations...if we understand the many facets that make up a holiday. In fact, this can create some truly memorable holidays, by leaning into the complexity of the holiday instead of just picking one part of it and turning it into a caricature.
The more layers of meaning we invest in a celebration, the more nuanced our celebrations become. We can enjoy them on multiple layers, and not only have a wonderful experience with family and/or friends, but also have meaningful times to reflect on different issues or moments in time. We can turn what was once a hollow holiday into a time of true connection.
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