Balancing Birthdays and Narcissism

By Ashley Burger

Today is my birthday! I am currently writing a blog and suppressing all my desires to ignore all work and celebrate the day. But, I wanted to look more into these special holidays. Everyone has an individual day all to themselves, where we can indulge in almost anything we want to and blame it on us being a year older. This practice could not be anymore narcissistic. We get to eat all the food we want, receive presents, and buy a little more than we should, all without feeling the guilt.

To me it is the best day of the year! Of course, when we really look into it, it seems silly. There are so many questions that pop into my head. Has our culture turned this special tradition into a consumer’s market (like valentine’s day)? Are we really that into ourselves that we need a day dedicated to us? Have we expanded this day into a day of excesses? I personally think that birthdays were not always celebrated like they are now. Or maybe other people do not celebrate them like me; and therefore I am the narcissist making this accusation.

To think back on my birthdays over the years I have engaged in many pleasures, as I have also acted on impulses and satisfied many desires. On my eighteenth birthday I got a tattoo and a piercing in the same day, after brunch with my friends. Food, pain, and pleasure; sounds like a great day. It is the day where I see something, have an impulse to have it, and get it, without even thinking about the consequences. This year the sense of birthday is starting to expand over about three weekends. There was a weekend with my friends and boyfriend, my actual birthday, and then my family’s weekend. I have managed to stretch one day into three weeks!

Despite contrary beliefs, this has led to the disenchantment of my birthday. Everyday seems like a normal day and on my actual birthday I am sitting here writing a blog. It has lost its’ spontaneity and magical appeal. After spending way too much money the past two weekends on indulgences to make me happy and feel something, I am sitting here feeling nothing on the actual day. But, I have learned my lesson for next year! One day is way more special than six.

Picture Provide by Google