Happy Everything

As we survive and thrive our way through the holiday season, we’re frequently reminded of our differences – the holidays we celebrate, the food we eat, our dress, our religion (or spirituality), and the words we use. This year more than others, there has been a bit of media attention surrounding the term “happy holidays” and even an “anti-happy holidays” sentiment stirring, I think particularly for those wanting to say “Merry Christmas” and feeling like they no longer could for reasons of political correctness.

Growing up celebrating Christmas, I always thought that “Happy Holidays” was a way to shorten the saying “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” or to avoid sending two separate cards to friends and family. “Happy Holidays” has since become a workplace-friendly term of inclusiveness. Politically correct? Yes. Do we celebrate Happy Holidays? No. We celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and others. Is it okay to try to be inclusive and not have folks feel left out? Sounds noble. Is it okay to celebrate and proclaim our own specific holidays? Absolutely. It isn’t that we’re celebrating nothing; we’re celebrating everything (for those who do celebrate nothing, I’m including that as part of “everything”).

Beyond holidays, this is about inclusiveness. Beyond tolerance, this is about understanding. In the workplace, we bring our own background, story, and history, our own culture, religion, and traditions, our own skills, talents, and challenges – we bring them all with us everyday. Let’s celebrate them all.

Happy Everything!