{"id":5616,"date":"2022-12-13T17:15:57","date_gmt":"2022-12-13T22:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/?page_id=5616"},"modified":"2022-12-13T17:50:19","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T22:50:19","slug":"celebrate-and-interact-and-live-longer-too","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/?page_id=5616","title":{"rendered":"\u201cCelebrate and Interact, and Live Longer Too\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bacon Scrapins<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 \u201c<\/strong>Celebrate and Interact, and Live Longer Too\u201d<\/h4>\n

by Barry S. Wolfe<\/h4>\n

Bacon Scrapins<\/em><\/strong> are the little bits of meat left in the greasy fry pan. They\u2019re tasty, but the \u2018nutrition\u2019 needs searching for. This tale is a <\/em>bacon scrapin<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Canada has many ways to celebrate, especially around December. Being a multi-cultural country there is a wide variety of customs that are recognized by those who believe and those who enjoy the excitement of this season.<\/p>\n

December 6th<\/sup> is Saint Nicholas Day<\/strong> for Christian believers. This day celebrates the birth of Saint Nicholas, the giving saint, recognized as the model for Santa Claus.<\/p>\n

December 8th<\/sup> is Rohatsu<\/strong> (Bodhi Day) for Buddhist believers. This day celebrates Buddha\u2019s decision and vow to sit under the Bodhi tree until he achieved spiritual enlightenment. It is recognized through personal meditation and as enthusiastically as Christians celebrate Christmas to honour Christ.<\/p>\n

December 12th<\/sup> is the\u00a0Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe<\/strong> for Catholics of Mexican descent. It honours the reported appearance of the Virgin Mary in Mexico City.<\/p>\n

December 16th<\/sup> to 25th<\/sup> is Posadas Navitas<\/strong> for Hispanic Christians. It commemorates the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.<\/p>\n

December 18th<\/sup> to 26th<\/sup> is Hanukkah<\/strong> for Judaism believers. This is the 8-day Jewish festival of lights, which celebrates the Maccabean revolt in Egypt. (The Maccabean Revolt of 167 \u2013 160 BCE was a Jewish uprising in Judea against the oppressive regime of the Seleucid Empire \u2013 now includes Syria, Iraq, and Iran, Saudia Arabia.) Eight candles are lit on a menorah candelabra to honour the holiday.<\/p>\n

December 21st<\/sup> to 25th<\/sup> is Pancha Ganapati<\/strong> in Hinduism. It is a 5-day festival in honour of Ganesha, a deity of \u2018beginnings\u2019, the Lord of Good Fortune who provides prosperity, fortune and success.<\/p>\n

December 21st<\/sup> is the Winter Solstice<\/strong> for Neo-Pagans and Wicca believers. It is when the earth is most inclined away from the sun. It is celebrated as Yule, and believers honour the \u201cwinter-born king symbolized by the rebirth of the sun\u201d.<\/p>\n

In Persia, December 21st<\/sup> is Yalda<\/strong> and is celebrated as the longest night of the year and the beginning of longer days.<\/p>\n

In Iran, December 21st<\/sup> is Shabe Yalda<\/strong> or Shabe Chelle, the victory of light and goodness over darkness and evil. The historian Herodotus recorded that Persians celebrated this as the most important holiday.<\/p>\n

December 23rd<\/sup> is the HumanLight<\/strong> for Humanists. It is recognition of a \u201cHumanist\u2019s vision of a good future\u201d.<\/p>\n

December 25th<\/sup> is Christmas<\/strong>, primarily a Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

December 25th<\/sup> to January 6th<\/sup> (Christmas to Epiphany) is Koliada<\/strong> to Slavs. It is a Slavic Paganism winter festival with parades and singers who visit houses and receive gifts.<\/p>\n

December 26th<\/sup> is Zarathosht Diso<\/strong> (Death of Prophet Zarathustra) for Zoroastrian believers. This is a celebration of the death of their prophet Zarathustra, who founded Zoroastrianism, which is one of the oldest monotheistic religions.<\/p>\n

December 30th<\/sup> is the\u00a0Feast of the Holy Family<\/strong> for Catholics. The family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph is honoured on this day.<\/p>\n

December 31st<\/sup> is Watch Night<\/strong> for Christians. It is a ceremony of thanks to their God for the safety they received during the year past.<\/p>\n

If anyone is aware of Indigenous celebrations at this time of year, email me with details, please. National Indigenous Peoples day, in June, is not a cultural celebration or ceremony.<\/p>\n

According to Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a researcher at Brigham Young Univesity, there are factors which are less or more statistically significant for longer life. She discovered, \u201cWhat reduces your chances of dying the most?\u201d<\/p>\n

From least significant to most significant the factors were: #10 \u2013 Clean Air, #9 \u2013 Treatment of Hypertension, #8 \u2013 Lean vs Overweight, #7 \u2013 Exercise, #6 \u2013 In rehab and exercising if you have had a cardiac event, #5 \u2013 Flu Vaccine, #4 \u2013 Quit Boozing, #3 \u2013 Quit Smoking, #2 \u2013 Several Close Personal Relationships, #1 \u2013 Social Integration.<\/p>\n

The most important influencing factor in living longer is how much you interact with people. How many do you daily talk to \u2013 not on the internet – live and in person? Do you greet passersby with a polite \u201cHi\u201d and a smile? Do you chat with the postman, coffee shop server, book or bridge club, or play sports with a group of players that rotate and interact?<\/p>\n

So, it seems, if you are a volunteer helping with, or a spectator who talks to fellow citizens at events such as the Remembrance Day Ceremony, the Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration, or a Parade of floats, shop locally and talk to the service people, then you\u2019re likely to live longer than those who don\u2019t participate and interact freely.<\/p>\n

Our Region is witnessing a large influx of new residents, coming from many places, often far away. The faces we see are changing in their variety. But, research shows, that if you interact and talk meaningfully with your fellows, you\u2019ll live longer.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s another reason to carry a supply of dog biscuits in my pocket. It starts conversations with fellow walkers. And the dogs seem to enjoy it too!<\/p>\n

Characters in these tales are fictional.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>You may email appropriate comments for the writer to thisiswilmot@gmail.com<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bacon Scrapins \u2013 \u201cCelebrate and Interact, and Live Longer Too\u201d by Barry S. Wolfe Bacon Scrapins are the little bits of meat left in the greasy fry pan. They\u2019re tasty, but the \u2018nutrition\u2019 needs searching for. This tale is a bacon scrapin. Canada has many ways to celebrate, especially around […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4072,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5616","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5616"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5623,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5616\/revisions\/5623"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}