Seems that holidays — any chance to celebrate really — tend to bring me out of my self-imposed hermitage. There have been many wondering where I have been. Some have even written to question whether I was still alive — or worse — if I ever even existed at all.
Exist. It’s a funny word. Comes from the Latin meaning “to come into being.” Perhaps that’s what I do everytime the calendar rolls around to a milestone. I “come into being” as a metaphysical kick in the ass to those who forget why we celebrate the days we do. That these days are more than mere excuses to fire up the grill or down a few “cold ones” (not that I am adverse to either occupation). But that these celebrations have, at their core, a living history. A vitality. And something essential to the human condition that we must pass on to the generations that follow.
In my adopted country, today is Independence Day. And while my tendency would be to share some anecdote about my good friend Ben, or Livingston and Sherman (who history has somewhat ignored), or even Jefferson with his silly thermometer (the future of the nation at stake and this towering Virginian is outside taking temperature readings!), I turn instead to the very meaning of the day. And oddly enough, it’s a frenchman who I turn to for the right words.
Words that I myself could not so succinctly pen.
“Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better,” wrote Albert Camus. A complex fellow. Often labelled an existentialist (but he hated the association). Once a Communist (he later rejected the ideology). A brilliant writer — novelist, journalist, satirist, you name it — who realized that the price of freedom was individual responsibility: to make life — one’s own, and the lives of others — better.
Now remember, folks. No one is guaranteed that life will be better. But on this day, we are all reminded of the chance. The opportunity. The hope. The pride. We are a nation of people given the freedom to become something more. Something nobler. Something better.
Think about those words as you celebrate this Fourth of July. Appreciate freedom and what it means to be free. Thank those who have sacrificed so much so that the rest of us have that chance to better this life.
Oh, and keep the beer ice cold just in case old Klaus shows up.
Despite appearances to the contrary, I don’t just venture out once a year. I look great in bermuda shorts, and I make one hell of a potato salad.
