2016 has been a year to remember! Now that the Presidential election is over, pause for a moment, and take a load off your cranium. Clear out your cerebrum. Free your neurons. I often write my editorial memo about a day or event that is celebrated during a particular month, so I searched for celebrations throughout the year that seem ridiculous; I wanted a good laugh. This list includes special national days that caught my eye and made me ask, "Is this for real?"
January: Rubber Duckie Day
February: Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day
March: Open an Umbrella Indoors Day
April: Blah Blah Blah Day
May: Lost Sock Memorial Day
June: World Sauntering Day
July: Rat-Catcher's Day
August: Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day
September: Be Late for Something Day
October: Mad Hatter Day
November: Look for Circles Day
December: Bathtub Day
Rituals
What do you do on these days? What is the ritual celebration? We live in a hurried society. On World Sauntering Day, you are to take your time getting from point A to point B, walk slowly, and "smell the flowers." You will still make it to your destination. Bathtub Day commemorates the introduction of the bathtub in England in 1828; you are to do whatever makes you feel relaxed and happy but in a tub of warm water, closing the bathroom off from the rest of the hectic world. Pamper yourself.
On Mad Hatter Day, you are to celebrate silliness; thus, behave like the character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?
Bring out your inner child. Guess what you are to do in March? Open an umbrella indoors, and see if you experience any bad luck. Good luck! And in April, 3 months after the beginning of a new year on Blah Blah Blah Day, you are to take all your forgotten New Year's resolutions and start anew on them with the intent of conquering the beast known as procrastination.
Jumping into the new year
I don't know anyone who celebrates any of these national days. But right around the corner is a universal celebration-New Year's Eve/Day. As I reflect back on 2016, there were numerous times when I asked the question, "Is this for real?" But I also found many opportunities to laugh at the least expected prompt, during a most troubling experience, in the midst of a quiet time, and while alone or with others.
The question now as I think of 2017 is "How can I make life better for myself and others in the New Year?" I have never made New Year's resolutions and do not intend to adopt that tradition now. But I will consider the words of Mahatma Gandhi:
Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.
Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.
Our national days
Individual responsibility for directing one's future is an expectation. Change is possible within your personal sphere, and change is achievable within your professional world. There are still many issues in healthcare that impact advanced practice: restrictions on full-practice authority, nursing/faculty shortage, shift to community-based care, population health with increasing emphasis on personalized medicine, integration of behavioral health and primary/medical care, demand for interprofessional teamwork, and, of course, technology. There is enough work for everyone, so find one thing that fuels your passion and advances nursing. Create your own national day of celebration-whether strange, silly, or simply sensible.
Jamesetta Newland, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, FAANP, DPNAP
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF [email protected]