Hopefully, you all were able to survive the traumatic and wonderful experience of Halloween at Trinity University. The passing of this momentous holiday means that we now find ourselves in that much dreaded in-between time known as November. Christmas is a month away, Halloween revelry has passed us by and we are currently plunged into the depths of academic pursuits (as well as the occasional social outing). While this temporary lull in activity should provide our busy souls with some respite, thinking on this month — that promises us nothing but “no-shave November” and a three-day break to gorge ourselves on turkey — instead left me disappointed at the lack of celebratory spirit in the air.
Luckily for my depressed mood, in the wee hours of Monday morning, I found myself on the Google page as I desperately searched for sources to supplement my upcoming history paper on the French Revolution.
The Google logo was dedicating itself to the celebration of famed 1970s artist Bob Ross. For those of you who are unaware of this man’s importance, I urge you to look him up on YouTube. When you do, you will be entranced by a man who teaches you how to paint clouds in two minutes (all whilst appearing stoned out of his mind). The importance of this man may not seem great to you all, yet it reminded me of the vital importance of celebrating the seemingly unimportant. Bob Ross’ gentle voice directing us to paint clouds, hills or skies (which are actually impossible to paint in real life) is an example of the quiet and beautiful things that we should learn to love when excitement isn’t abounding in our lives.
Thus, I would like to remind you all of the wonderful things that await us in this month of November. We have the impending elections (which you should’ve voted in by now “¦), an excellent array of professional sports to watch on TV, celebrations like Wurstfest in the Hill Country (GO!), Thanksgiving break and Veterans’ Day (I’m a history major; trust me — it’s important). These events may seem trivial and obviously don’t live up to the “hype” of Christmas and Halloween, yet they promise us a small break from the monotony of November that has filled our hearts this month.
I am reminded of the wise words of the late magical educator Albus Dumbledore who once said, “happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” We can find the smallest rays of light to provide happiness in our sometimes sad and tedious periods of life (a.k.a November). Hence, go forth and look up parodies of “Gangham Style,” celebrate a friend’s birthday in a local eatery (stay classy — no Taco Bell), or just enjoy the small happy fact that you still have an entire month left to change that D to a C in your finance class and to shop for your mother for Christmas (hello, Amazon). It is through these small celebrations of the mundane and seemingly unimportant that we are able to make it from moment to moment (or from Halloween to Christmas). Happy November, dear readers. Celebrate accordingly.
Gabrielle Shayeb is a senior majoring in history.
