Happy March 20: International Day of Happiness!

If you didn’t know that March 20 is the International Day of Happiness, don’t worry In this article you will discover the history of when it was created, why, and how we celebrate it today.

This is the International Day of Happiness

To this day, there have been many “March Twenties”; For example, in 1904 the American psychologist Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born, in 1915 German zeppelins bombed Paris during the First World War, and just a year later, in 1916, Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity.

On March 20, 1957, the National Council in Switzerland granted the vote to women, while John Lennon and Yoko Ono married in 1969, the same day that the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.

All these same days from different years have something in common, and that is that Unforgettable events occurred in them or events that changed the course of history

The same date, but already in 2013, there is a day that can also initiate a change in the collective mind of our society; March 20 then became recognized as the International Day of Happiness. But… what is the point of having an International Day of Happiness?

origins

The United Nations (UN) is the organization in charge of creating and formalizing international days that we have throughout the year. And this is done to, in their own words, “raise awareness, raise awareness, draw attention, point out that there is an unresolved problem, an important and pending issue in societies so that, through this awareness, governments and states to act and take measures or for citizens to demand it from their representatives.”

From this we can deduce that, if a day dedicated to happiness has been established, this is clearly an important issue that societies still have pending. No?

And how can it be then that there was no International Day of Happiness until just 6 years ago? The reason seems reasonable; and civilization has, from its beginnings, given priority to resolve the issues that required observation and therefore action at that historical-social moment

It is for this same reason that we can observe that throughout the different “March twenties”, there has been a systematic resolution of very varied issues, but, and this is very remarkable, always staggered.

To give an example, it would not make sense to have invented the steam engine without first having “discovered” fire, since one thing inexorably depends on the other.

One more step for humanity

In the current 21st century, and more specifically since 2013, We believe we are ready to adopt the problem of happiness as something to which we should pay attention

Finally, organizations around the world have realized that it was necessary to formalize the study and dissemination of happiness, and it is thanks to the creation of these so-called International Days that pages and forums on the subject receive hundreds of thousands of visits from people interested in its commemoration.

Therefore, the very existence of an International Day of Happiness is in essence a recognition that humanity has begun its search for happiness

Why celebrate happiness?

In my writings and in my lectures I have already criticized the fact that “happiness” is seen as a fantastic remedy for all our misfortunes, and above all that it is sold as a colorful product full of smiles and indifferent joy.

Thus, we will assume that it is a simple coincidence (and not a sociocultural result) that the day for happiness was established on March 20, just the day spring begins (in the northern hemisphere). According to the calculations of the National Astronomical Observatory at 10:58 p.m. (official peninsular time), the birds will be able to sing, the flowers will be able to begin to bloom, and people will have 24 hours to celebrate our happiness.

But rather than focusing on what date happiness is celebrated, we should look at how it is celebrated And around the world there are celebrations to commemorate that we are alive, that we are free, that we can be happy… and that it is spring!

The precedent of the Holi Festival

Have you heard about Holi Festival? It is a festival with religious origins that is celebrated mainly in India and other nearby countries.

Also called Spring Festival, the original celebration essentially consists of throwing brightly colored powders and colored water at each other, as a symbol of happiness for the arrival of spring, (Author’s note to self: doesn’t anyone celebrate the arrival of winter ?) trying to emulate the cheerful colors of the flowers that will be born during the coming season It is a magical moment, of joy, fun, music and dance, but above all spiritual, since during the eve of the festival, bonfires are lit as a commemoration of the triumph of “good” over “evil.”

But in addition, the Holi Festival is a celebration of happiness, it has a meaning linked to culture. Perhaps that is why it has become popular internationally. In addition, this year’s Holi Festival is celebrated on nothing more and nothing less than March 20.

Now that we know some details about The Day of Happiness, we will end up including International Days as a system for measuring global problems.

According to the UN, having an International Day is very informative because through its impact you can measure the degree of interest that a problem arouses around the world These days reveal to us the secret that the days that attract the most attention every year, in Latin America and Spain, are those dedicated to Nelson Mandela, on July 18, Women, on March 8, and Water, on the 22nd. of that same month. And that is precisely why I have written this article and you are reading it, to spread and raise awareness that we can all (and should) celebrate happiness.

If society is already ready to celebrate International Women’s Day, it is also ready to celebrate the International Day of Happiness. In the end they both serve the same purpose, to create a slightly better world.

How will you celebrate the International Day of Happiness? It is up to each of us that this year and those to come, we celebrate happiness, claiming it every March 20, so we can enjoy it every day of the year.

More March twenties throughout history

1821: in Portugal, the government declares the Catholic Inquisition abolished.

1873: the Republican National Assembly of Spain approves the abolition of slavery on the island of Puerto Rico.

2016: Barack Obama visits Cuba after 88 years.