On the Cultural Significance of Colorful Explosions

I am not a person who has generally been a huge fan of symbols, ceremony or anything that is done for show.  And I do not tend to make a big fuss about anything.  I feel that things that have value and meaning hold those qualities intrinsically, and no amount of pomp and circumstance can make them worth any more than they are.                While I often still feel this way about my own life and American traditions, on my travels through out the world I have become fascinated with ceremony and religion and the physical things that hold value for people because I try to think about why a person or group of people do what they do and why we love old things and continue to carry on traditions. 

One of my most favorite examples of cultural tradition (probably because I learned to make them) is the Ukrainian “rushnik,”  which a white cloth embroidered with usually black and red designs and words like “love” or “fate” or “freedom.”  “rushnik” means simply towel, but these towels have, even in modern times, heavy symbolism for the people of Ukraine.  The white of the towel represents life, the red represents love and the black represents death.  The “rushnik” holds value as a cultural symbol which helps define what is Ukrainian and it also holds personal meaning for people over time based on who in the family made if for then and what holidays it was used for and for how many years.  That meaning of the “rushnik” deepens over time the way that the properties in the soil where grapes grow affect the way that wine tastes and the way the flavor becomes richer and more complex.   

I often wonder and worry about this type of tradition in the United States.  Diversity is one of our country’s greatest assets, but it also means that those bonding experiences and symbols can be lacking, and consequently we are not tied strongly to our neighbors and our communities.  I think this is especially true because we all ride around in cars by ourselves, listening only to music we like and news stations that we know will confirm the opinions we already hold.  I was especially thinking about symbols, togetherness and community yesterday on the Fourth of July.  My cynical side will tell me that this holiday, like so many others is just an excuse to have a party.  And not putting a whole lot of stock in symbols and things done for show, I thought I didn’t want to go see or didn’t care to see the fireworks being shot out over the National Mall here in DC last night.  Were it not for a friend dragging off the comfortable porch I was sitting on, beer in hand, surrounded by people I like very much, I would not have gone to see the fireworks and that would have been a mistake. 

We didn’t make it all the way to the Mall, but to a near by grassy spot with lots of families and groups blasting music, grilling and having a grand old time.  But as it got dark and the fire works began, some small, possibly illegal displays and of course the big show over the Mall, the music was turned off and people quieted down to watch the sky explode with red, white and blue.  What is important and special about fireworks, I have decided, is that is something that well all experience together.  Whether we actually shoot these fireworks to honor our history and independence, our brave citizens in uniform, our place in the world now or just to watch pretty lights explode in the air, here in DC and across the country every person tilted their head back in awe.   And for this moment I am willing to give more credit to symbols and big displays of patriotic affection, because of their, if temporary, ability to bring people in this large, loud, gorgeous, complicated, sometimes fractured country together.