Today is everyone’s lucky day, ‘cause it is Saint Patrick’s Day!
But what is this day actually all about?
Today we celebrate the one and only Saint Patrick -who was actually Italian and not Irish. But since he had been a slave in Ireland, he was familiar with the culture and the language. After the slavery he went back to Ireland to convert the people to Christianity. He was very successful too, since he had a special method: he tried to combine people’s old beliefs with the new ones of Christianity. And during his preaches, he used a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity, because a shamrock has three leaves. Since then, the Irish consider a shamrock as a symbol for good luck. Moreover, green is the national colour of Ireland and of the festive day as well. And certainly when worn on St. Patrick’s Day the colour should bring good luck too!
Now you should know that my favourite colour is green, my favourite symbol is a shamrock and I absolutely love Irish accents (I almost went on Erasmus to Ireland instead of England). So yes, I am quite fond of this holiday, even though it is not celebrated in Belgium (unfortunately).
I personally like this holiday so much because it is, these days, all about luck. I have always been that kind of person that catches her eyelashes and can’t throw them away without making a wish; the same goes for seeing a shooting star.
I do believe that you create your happiness yourself for a big part, but some people just have more luck than others. They have more resources to do things they like and love. For example, I read an article about a gay man who took his own life because his family couldn’t accept him the way he was. He had been living a double life for 13 years and couldn’t deal with it anymore. When he finally told his parents, they advised him to go see a psychiatrist (follow the link below to read the full story).
Those are the kind of people that could use a bit more of luck, as they deserve to be as happy as anyone else. Which is why we should bring this under the attention more and tell everyone that being gay is OK.
And for the first time, gay and lesbian marchers are participating in today’s St. Patricks parade. Yay, you go guys!
Do you feel as lucky as I do? Or could you use a few extra shamrocks?
