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Com•mence•ment. n. a beginning; a start
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Didn’t start out as a tiger but glad to finish as one :)
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Family :)
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“There is a good reason they call these ceremonies “commencement exercises.” Graduation is not the end; it’s the beginning.”
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#graduationpresent #bassclef my parents know me too well #slappadabass #doyouknowwhatitmeans… New York, here I come! (Taken with instagram)
Reflecting on the history of Mardi Gras, it comes from the tradition of the saturnalia, a Roman holiday. The Saturnalia marks a time of revelry in which people perform. It is a time that we recognize the identity we think we are is merely a performance. Our gender, social class, occupation, etc are all performances we learn through social learning. Carnival season marks a time when we can reflect on this by dressing up and acting out another identity. This is of course the traditional Mardi Gras. Now, it is largely a tourist attraction with parades and drunken nonsense, not that there is anything inherently wrong with that. The St. Ann’s society still holds traditional Mardi Gras with small groups of people dressed in a theme, usually satiric in nature, second lining through the Marigny and other neighborhoods around the French Quarter. Another festivity that is around the corner is the Maha Shivaratri on Monday. It will be interesting to pay respects to Lord Shiva during Mardi Gras. It gives a chance to reflect on the identities we feel compelled to perform. Realizing that we have the choice to choose to be the best self, we can ask Lord Shiva to help destroy these false illusions of identity and help us become the higher, truer self that we have always wanted.
