Archive for the ‘Divorce’ Category
A Toast to 2009
December 30, 2009
It’s difficult to avoid the cliché of how each of life’s conclusions – be it a graduation, a retirement, or even death – is also a beginning, so we’ll just surrender and reference it right off the bat. Now more than ever, as we stand on the edge of 2009, we are forced to examine the notion of finality and the fact that life is a stream of one era collapsing into the next.
As mortal human beings, there seems to be a fascination with endings hard-wired into each one of us – look no further than the swarm of online lists, articles, and retrospectives commemorating the end of the year and decade for evidence. Ask anyone about his or her most life-changing moments, and it’s guaranteed to involve an ending of some sort, followed by a disorienting period, and a need to rebuild. A common denominator across all cultures is the celebration of endings and their consequent beginnings – be it through rites of passage, like quinceañeras, bar mitvahs marking the end of childhood, or the more recent divorce parties commemorating the end of a marriage.
It seems every one of life’s endings, no matter how minuscule requires recognition. We try to ensure that every death ends with a funeral or memorial, every film with credits, every sentence with a punctuation mark, and every meal with dessert (or, if you’re more cynically inclined, a check). Consider each of these a reference point, a guide post indicating that it’s time to move on to something new.
As you face the termination of 2009, there are many ways you can commemorate. Perhaps after this particularly difficult year you’re in need of cathartic release. You might opt for a late-night celebration with overflowing cocktails, as is expected in many Western countries (For suggestions on where to eat during your early hours merrymaking, see our recent tweets).
Of course, there are healthy alternatives to libation-fueled festivities. You can take the Japanese route and start celebrating on New Year’s Day at a more reasonable hour (after all, it’s a bit literal-minded to start the new year at midnight). In the land of the rising sun, it’s customary to get a full night of sleep, give an optimistic nod to the rising sun itself, and to forget the hardships of the previous twelve months with a big feast and gift exchanging.
We at UBI UBI are inclined to celebrate the year’s end with a sophisticated meal. After a year of culinary breakthroughs, it’s only appropriate to mark your hope for another delicious year with an evening of fine dining. After dinner, you can always reminisce over your favorite memories of the year with a thoughtfully selected bottle of sparkling wine shared with loved ones, or your urban tribe.
Every ending is laced with uncertainty over what’s to follow, but, as this year has demonstrated, even life’s most uncertain times are illuminated by instances of brilliance and creativity, be it through food, art, fashion, or technology. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for the coming decade.
Now, let us end this post with warm wishes for an invigorating New Year’s celebration and with special thanks to our readers and followers, who have been our inspiration for 2009.
Sources:
“The Case Against the New Year,” > wsj.com;
Photo courtesy of:
i.ehow.com.
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Celebrating the Split: Divorce Parties Ring in a New Life Chapter
November 20, 2009
When British T.V. personality Katie Price divorced her husband, Australian singer Peter Andre, it was, like any divorce, a painful experience. So, why, then, did she throw a divorce party? It may seem like a counterintuitive reaction, but divorce parties may soon be just another way to celebrate a newly accepted post-marriage phase of life. The divorce party, a surprising and increasingly popular ritual, is now de rigueur for recent divorcés.
When you’ve finally made it to the other side of a divorce, don’t ignore the elephant in the room, throw some streamers around it and celebrate it with your friends. At least, that’s the idea behind this modern day celebration. The goal is to put a positive spin on the decision to split, to reaffirm friendships, and to commemorate the opening of a new chapter in one’s life. “[Divorce] is part of life, and yet it’s the only major event for which we have no ritual,” says Christine Gallagher, author of The Divorce Party Planner. In a time where divorce is evolving into an increasingly common decision and a more widely discussed topic, it only makes sense that people would begin to treat it the way they treat life’s other key transitions – with a gathering of family and friends.
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Posted in Divorce, Lifestyle, Traditions, Trends | 1 Comment »
