Happy Youth Day!

How do you usually celebrate Youth Day? Do you have a braai with your friends and reminisce about old times? Do you partake in a Youth Day initiative for charity? Or is it just another public holiday for you? (There are only a few left for this year).

Did you know that you’re considered a youth until you’re 35?

Won’t lie, seems like a stretch, but we’ll take it. 

Being young is amazing. Wow! So much energy and spirit and verve!

Being young can also be trying. And tiring. And trifling.

Especially when you consider all the many responsibilities and traditions we inherit. Especially when you consider the burden we’re under to carry on those traditions, passed on through culture and religion, into a future world in which they don’t quite fit. 

Embrace the new and revere the old, right? 

How?

When do we get to live our lives the way we want to and make our own traditions?

For example; Maybe you hate pickled fish, but every Easter you’re forced to eat it. You’ve thought about telling your family that you prefer fishfingers and chutney, but you just don’t want to rock the boat and now you’re 34 and still faking your way through Easter lunch. 

Maybe it’s something bigger than Holiday meal choices. Maybe you’re trying to balance your culture or religion with the life that you envision for yourself. Your future literally depends on it. 

Instead of subverting your traditions or completely abandoning them, what about trying to find a balance that honours the traditions passed down but still allows you to do you?

Change is good, and it doesn’t always involve undermining those traditions.

We know what you’re thinking. If you change something that you’ve been taught to do since childhood, wouldn’t that mean that it no longer holds the same value. It has changed and therefore cannot be considered a tradition anymore.

No. Let us explain with a long winded analogy.

You’ve seen how Barbie – the most iconic doll, nay, action figure – has changed over the years to be more representative of the children they’re targeted towards whilst still being that iconic Barbie. Now we have Barbies working in construction and rocking braids. 1950’s Barbie could never. 

She’s still Barbie. 

You can represent your culture, your religion and yourself without feeling like a failure, without feeling like you’re letting everyone down.

We’re not saying that traditions are bad and you should let everything go and forget all that you’ve learned along the way. There are some good gems in there, some wise advice to follow.  

We are saying that you can make your own traditions and maybe you can make your traditions work for you.

Afterall, how else do traditions start if not with one person saying, “Hey, we’re doing this now”.

And how else will they change if someone doesn’t say, “Hey, we’re doing it like this now”.

Remember, this world today is not the same world in which those old traditions were born. 

Now go forth and let us know about your new traditions and which ones you’ve let go or changed. 

Also, go watch Wakanda Forever.

• The H Word