The Orthodox Churches that follow the Julian calendar (the Orthodox churches of Constantinople, Albania, Alexandria, Antioch, Bulgaria, Japan, Cyprus, Greece, America, and Romania) celebrate Easter (Pascha) today, on April 24th, 2022.
If you are interested in finding out more about the holiday, here are some articles from the previous years: 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Easter (Pascha) is a celebration of the resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, The Son of God, The Second Person of The Holy Trinity.
He is risen!
I wish you a joyous Easter celebration and a blessed year ahead!
And I leave you with this video on how Romanians celebrate Easter:
R&R Partners Bucharest – Orthodox Easter in Romania
When we speak of sleep, we generally think of nighttime, but did you know that there is a World Sleep Day?
Started in 2008, World Sleep Day is a global awareness act that celebrates sleep. Its goal is to raise awareness of sleep as a human privilege that is often compromised by the habits of modern life. The focus is on helping those with serious sleep problems.
Celebrated on the Friday before Spring Vernal Equinox of each year, this holiday has an annual 155 events held across the world and is participated by over 70 countries.
World Sleep Day was organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society, and it began with a group of health professionals and providers who were studying in the area of sleep medicine and sleep research.
For World Sleep Day 2022, which is observed on March 18, the theme and slogan is Quality Sleep, Sound Mind, Happy World. The questions asked on the official website are: How does quality sleep help maintain mental health? How might better sleep help people focus during the day? Or how might fatigue weigh us down physically, mentally, and emotionally?
To find out more about World Sleep Day, what steps to take towards improved sleep, and how to get involved in related activities, check out the following sites:
It seems that, over the past decades, almost every month has been chosen to contain a celebration or observance of something related to veganism. While not as popular as the others vegan months, February is regarded as the International Vegan Cuisine Month.
Consisting of plant-based meals that are cruelty-free and follow a more sustainable lifestyle, vegan cuisine has increased in popularity, and is now present on almost all restaurant menus all around the world.
Vegan Cuisine Month was established by the the American Vegan Society to help bring awareness to the fact that switching from eating meat to a plant-based diet was not a difficult task. The Vegan Cuisine Month gained visibility after the founder and president of the American Vegan Society, Freya Dinshah, wrote the first cookbook published in the United States to explain veganism. Published in 1965, the book, called “The Vegan Kitchen”, described the importance and ethical purposes of veganism and became a best-seller.
Freya and her husband were a big part of creating the entire vegan movement we witness today.
Vegan Cuisine Month runs throughout the month of February. It is a month that is set out to celebrate the benefits of veganism, to bring awareness, share recipes and thoughts, as well as looking back on the past and expressing what we expect to see in the future.
For ideas on how to celebrate Vegan Cuisine Month and how to easily switch to a vegan lifestyle, check out the sites linked below:
Every year since 2014, vegans all over the world have been promoting “Veganuary” as a month-long celebration of the vegan lifestyle that focuses on the vegan diet.
Although being vegan entails omitting all animal products, not just those used in food, the main goal of “Veganuary Month” is changing people’s diets, allowing participants to move onto avoiding animal products in other lifestyle products more gradually.
A common misconception about being vegan is that the diet has to be unappealing, boring and consisting of salads and fruits, three meals a day, 7 days a week. That is so far from the truth!
Although the vegan diet does center around plant-based foods (fruits, veggies, legumes, nuts and seeds), which, according to numerous studies, leads towards an optimum health, there are now thousands of alternative vegan versions of animal products, including cheese, meat, milk, and eggs. Therefore vegans can continue to eat all the things they love such as pizza, burgers, mac and cheese and ice-cream without eating animal products.
Aside from avoiding foods that contain meat, dairy, eggs and honey, vegans also try to avoid buying or using products that contain animal ingredients, materials that have been derived from animals or products that have been tested on animals.
To find out more about “Veganuary”, visit the websites linked below:
In December of 1948, the United nations General Assembly put forth 30 articles that cover everything from rights to education, freedom, health, and more. Since this event, these articles have served to help protect civilians in time of war or dictatorship, to help bring POW’s home, and to ensure that people everywhere are allowed to live in liberty and safety.
I’ve been on hiatus for a while due to health problems, but I haven’t completely abandoned this blog.
This article should have been posted at the beginning of September, so I would like to apologize for its late publication, as the month has already reached its middle.
Regardless, it is still September, and it’s a busy month. Lots of things are being celebrated and/or observed during this second month of Autumn (including my birthday), and I would like to present a brief list of things that have September as their official month.
Hunger Action Month – established in 2008 in the USA, with the goal of tackling the hunger crisis across the country, Hunger Action Month is celebrated by helping raise awareness of hunger as a problem that needs to be solved. You can learn more about it here: https://www.feedingamerica.org/take-action/hunger-action-month
Friendship Month – started about a decade ago, Friendship Month aims to celebrate everything that is great about friendship. From strengthening current friendships to making new ones, to reaching out to old friends you’ve been meaning to reconnect with for a long time, the ways you can celebrate Friendship Month are numerous. Find out what Friendship Month is all about here: https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/oddfellows-friendship-month-2021/
Suicide Prevention Month – there is no need to explain why raising awareness and opening the dialogue about suicide is important in today’s society. September is recognized annually as National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. As part of that, Sept. 5-11 is recognized as National Suicide Prevention Week and Sept. 10 as World Suicide Prevention Day. Organizations like the National Alliance of Mental Illness work every year to help raise awareness of the difficulty and pain of those who attempt suicide.
For a longer list of monthly observances for the month of September, I invite you to visit the following sites:
I want to mention from the very beginning that the name of this holiday (Be An Angel Day) is to be understood metaphorically. According to Christian beliefs, humans and angels are two different species and humans cannot become angels (unless God wills it, which is an entirely different topic of discussion).
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s see what Be An Angel Day is about and why it is relevant. Started by Jayne Howard Feldman in 1993 and popularized on social media over the past years, Be An Angel Dayis observed every year on August 22nd. Its aim is to encourage good deeds and kindness to others. I think we can never have too many holidays for promoting kindness. By supporting those in need and inspiring others to kindness, we display a behavior characteristic to angels, here on earth.
Be An Angel Day is very similar to the Random Acts Of Kindness Day. People are encouraged to show kindness and do something nice for their fellow humans and have a positive impact in another person’s life for a day.
There are numerous things you can do to observe / celebrate this day. Helping others with their chores, complimenting family members and/or friends, trying to be more polite, patient and compassionate, forgiving those you hold a grudge against, praying for the wellbeing of others, smiling at people and thanking them for their service (the postman, the cashier at the store, the doorman, the police or security officer etc.), helping the homeless, volunteering to work at a soup kitchen or donating to a charity organization… and the list goes on.
If you need more ideas, check out this list of random acts of kindness:
Observed every year on the third Sunday of August, World Honey Bee Day aims to celebrate honey bees, beekeepers, honey lovers, and all blooming things.
On this day, people are invited to recognize the contribution that honey bees make to our everyday lives, and to learn about how we can protect this vital species and provide a supportive environment for it.
Beekeepers to celebrate National Honey Bee Day this weekend
To learn more about World Honey Bee Day and about how you can get involved in spreading awareness about this holiday, please visit the following websites:
According to various websites, listed below, today, July the 24th, is Tell An Old Joke Day. I’ll leave the following links for you to read more about the history and the meaning of this holiday.
So, without further ado, here’s an old joke. I hope you enjoy it.
What did the kid in first year at Catholic school say when asked why they kept walking next to the same person at school? “I was told I’m supposed to walk by Faith!”
While Eat Your Vegetables Day is currently celebrated mostly in the USA, I think its message is so important that it should become an international thing.
It is undeniable and scientifically-proven that vegetables and fruits are an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Thousands of studies conducted in the field of nutrition over the past decades have highlighted the benefits of a plant-based diet.
If you care about your body and want to improve your health, I recommend you increase your intake of fresh, organic vegetables and fruits. To learn more about Eat Your Vegetables Day, please visit the following websites:
Some ideas for celebrating Eat Your Vegetables Day are to include vegetables in all your meals today, and to visit your local farmer’s market and get some locally grown produce. If your schedule doesn’t allow it, plan to do so at your earliest convenience.
