Independence 2019

As the second half of the year begins, as Americans, we take one day, July 4^th, to step back and celebrate the birth of our great nation.  In many nations across the globe, there are many countries where the population is nationalistic, proud of their place of birth / origin and celebrate similarly every year.  For me, this is a day to celebrate the birth of our nation, parades take place and we spend time together as a family.  OK, in truth, this is really more than just a one-day celebration – there are celebrations on the weekends and fireworks presented by the neighboring towns over a bunch of nights.

For this year, as for the past many years, one of the ways that I look forward to celebrating our Independence Day is as clown in a local parade.  For about an hour and a half, I had one simple goal, spread happiness!  The group that I work with, Miles of Smiles, takes an interactive approach to parades – we do not march in the parade down the middle of the street, but walk along the sides, interacting with the people and high-fiving children of all ages.  It is about making them feel good, giving them a memory and adding to a positive experience.  For me, it is really a chance to live in the moment - I was able to not have to worry about making decisions, no thoughts regarding the issues of the day and no crises to avert.  That time in the parade was a series of small slices of time and watching a smile appear on someone else’s face.  Needless to say, by the end of the parade, I was tired.  Onto the next two events, in costume, of course. 

As we celebrated the 4^th, it really was a celebration about a nation that broke away from being a colony.  A country striking forward with new thoughts and new ideas for that time period.  We were to be a country without a king, but representative leadership selected by the population.  In a relatively small amount of time, aside from becoming a world power, we were able to lead in multiple areas of development, technology and thought.  We have many good, positive reasons to celebrate.  I hope that you all had a great 4^th of July.