Just something I was thinking about today, and I’m curious if I’m an outlier, or if I’m on the same page as everybody else.
It’s a big time of the year for graduations and weddings and it got me thinking about all the ceremonies. They are often long and drawn out and VERY expensive for whoever’s paying the bill, and I can’t stand them.
Just the idea of sitting for hours while somebody I don’t know talks and talks and talks until we finally get to the “I do” or the passing of the diplomas/awards that we came to see.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the celebration. I’m more than happy to come out and congratulate you on your achievement and make some good memories with friends and family, but why can’t we just skip to that part instead of sitting through a series of lectures?
I even skipped my own college graduation because I didn’t see any point in making me and my family sit through the ceremony. They know I graduated, and I don’t need some big expensive to-do and a spotlight to validate that.
But, we keep doing them, and keep making them bigger and more elaborate than before, so it makes me wonder if people actually appreciate these ceremonies or if it’s just something we do because that’s how it’s been done.
I love ceremonies ! I wish more things in life had a similar sort of etiquette about them, it would make things so much simpler !
For the ceremonies we have, I think it’s a matter of not knowing the right measure of things. I think too much importance is put on speeches, and not enough on ritual actions. Ceremonies aren’t boring, speeches are boring !
I like the special clothes, I like that sometimes there’s special music, you have to say certain phrases… People have well defined roles, there’s an air of decorum and seriousness (and oh how I wish people were generally more serious and engaged with things…), often there are flowers and other special decor all around…
Honestly, I really like ceremonies. They’re fun. I want more of them ! But fewer speeches.