February 17 – A Confrontation of Ideas Day

Key Points

nPosted on February 17, 2017

nI do research on what official and non-official holidays exist on each day — and, believe me, there are so many, I usually can pick and choose, even though I write a post for every day of the year, and I’ve been doing it for more than seven years!
n
nToday I discovered that February 17 is “My Way Day” and also “World Human Spirit Day.”
n
n

nThe first is supposed to be a celebration of the “I did it MY way” spirit, of the “MY way or the highway” confidence.
n
nBut, you know what?
n
nThese “My Way” words are too often used by bullies and would-be authoritarian “leaders.”
n
nThe problem with focusing on MY way is, if everyone else is doing that, too, there are going to be a lot of struggles and disagreements.
n
nIt’s better when people and especially leaders try to consider everyone’s needs and wants, try to be creative and come up with lots of possible solutions to meeting these needs and wants, try to build consensus, try to see the “you” and find the “we” as we discuss ideas and take action.
n
nNow, the World Human Spirit Day is more along those lines. The idea here is to celebrate marvelous accomplishments of humans and vow to do more and better, to celebrate our own unique talents and passions but also to celebrate diversity and to work together with others.
n
nThe founder of this holiday (Michael Levy) urges people all over the world to take two minutes of silence at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time to think about freedom and peace. I actually find Levy a bit too mystical, and I am not particularly promoting everything about his philosophy and books (none of which I’ve read, so I better not promote them!)… But taking a few minutes of silence, thinking about freedom and peace, and striving for the best of humanity is always a good idea!!

n