The Baha'i Fast

So I believe I mentioned before that this is the Baha'i month* of fasting. From sunrise to sunset, we don't eat or drink. (Or smoke, either, but I don't smoke any more anyway, so it's not an issue.) In my household during the Fast, we get up around 5:30 a.m. to eat breakfast together, usually something fairly substantial. I always make sure to have some protein and some complex carbohydrates. And lots of water! I generally avoid sugar, since I'm mildly hypoglycemic and sugar can really make it hard for me. After breakfast we brush our teeth and then gather in the living room for prayers. Unfortunately, I'm usually not very alert, so I sometimes don't feel like I'm really getting much out of the dawn prayers. I try, though.

Mostly it's easier than it sounds, except for the getting up early. I'm not much of a morning person. It feels really good to exercise the spiritual discipline to fast, and I try to focus on being more spiritually centered at this time. This year has been a little weird, since I have been out late a lot and generally spending a lot of time getting to know Brian and enjoying his company. So I haven't been getting much sleep, but I haven't felt as tired as I usually do, probably because I'm really excited. The fasting part has been pretty easy, though there've been a few times when I've had dinner a bit later than I would have liked, and that was kind of difficult.

I feel very strongly that changes in my life which occur during the Fast are very significant, especially since the Fast is a very spiritual time of year.

For more info about the Baha'i Fast, you can read this article.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the last day of the Fast is March 20. It ends with Naw-Ruz, which is our new year. I'll be MCing the New Year's party for San Mateo county, and if any of you want to come to the party, you're more than welcome. I'll post the details later this week.

* A Baha'i month consists of nineteen days.

White Day!

I suddenly realized that today is White Day (aka Howaito day). White Day is a holiday celebrated in Japan on March 14, exactly one month after Valentine's Day. On Valentine's Day in Japan, the girls give chocolate to the boys, so White Day is the boys' opportunity to return the favor, by giving gifts and candy to the girls. Something about the reciprocity of this appeals to me. I think part of the reason I've always resented Valentine's Day as practiced here in the US is because most of the expectations are placed on the men - they're supposed to buy flowers and chocolates and gifts, and take their girlfriends or wives out to someplace romantic for dinner or for the weekend or something like that. I want to be romantic, too! I'm the kind of person that likes to shower her beloved with gifts and affection, and I'm not comfortable when it's a one-way thing where I'm passively receiving the tokens of adulation from my admirer.

I also like that it's considered extra romantic for the girls to make the chocolates themselves, usually in heart shaped molds and then decorated with some sort of romantic phrase of some sort (usually in English). This appeals to me because I like to cook, and in my homebody Cancerian* heart, cooking for the ones I love is the height of happiness. Of course, there are disturbing implications to it as well, related to sexual inequality, something I feel strongly about (natch!). But I can be okay with being feminine and subservient once in a while for romantic purposes, I suppose.

From what I've heard, though, Valentine's Day and White Day aren't exactly equal. The girls have to give chocolates to all the boys they know, not just the one they really like. It's called giri-choco (obligation chocolate), and it's a token given to everyone so that nobody feels left out. On White Day, the boys don't generally give gifts to everyone, I don't think, but the guys with girlfriends are in trouble, as it's definitely an opportunity for the girls to ask for expensive gifts like perfume and jewelry.

I think I'll plan on instituting White Day here, but since the guys have already claimed Valentine's Day as their day to be romantic, I'll claim White Day for us girls. (If you're in a same-sex relationship, I suppose you'll just have to agree on who gets which one.) I haven't decided what sorts of romantic gifts should be traditional for the American White Day, but I'm thinking about it. Any suggestions?

*Note: I don't really believe in astrology that much, but this is one aspect of the typical Cancerian personality that really applies to me.