Holiday Attachment to Youthful Days of Childhood

Hello all! I know it's been nearly a week since the last post on here. Hopefully all of you had a great Fourth of July and you all were able to celebrate America's birthday in a patriotic way! The Fourth of July is always signified by things such as a large community parade, baseball, a cookout that includes burgers, hot dogs and apple pie, and is often capped off by a nighttime spectacular fireworks show. Throughout the day, there are usually individuals dressed up as Uncle Sam (guilty not guilty if you follow myself on social media!) or another patriotic individual, sights of bunting lining street poles and fencing throughout various communities, and of course old glory itself - the American flag waving in the wind. It all encompasses everything that's great about living in the United States and being able to celebrate our freedom every Independence Day. 

Given that yesterday was a holiday, it made myself start to think about the correlation for INFJ individuals between holidays and reminiscing about their youthful past when they were a child celebrating those holidays. As kids, everyone always has a wonderful, optimistic view of the world and feels that everyone is working together as a community. Often times, it is a narrative that is established through various school and community programs, educational programs on TV and YouTube, and in children's books where the storyline involves one character helping someone else with a mission or some other complex task. It's what makes childhood great and why so many kids don't feel impacted by the world around them even when it might be crumbling. 

For INFJ individuals, recalling the past and the vivid memories of celebrating holidays as a kid are something very integral about celebrating each and every holiday itself. It's almost as if people that identify as an INFJ are longing for the days of their childhood where they celebrated certain traditions with their families and friends, longed to discover the meaning behind each holiday, and developed a curiosity about what everything associated with each holiday means. The same concept applies to any holiday including July Fourth.

Personally speaking, growing up in Colorado for 18 years and as native of "Colorful Colorado", the Fourth of July always held special meaning and still brings back very good, vivid memories of childhood. Growing up in a suburb outside of the Denver metro area within Douglas County, I had a very good childhood with deep friendships at school and around the neighborhood where my family and I called home. During the summer time, there were countless days where myself and all of my friends played outside from sunrise to sunset and often would go home only to grab a quick snack or to eat dinner with our families. Just writing this makes myself recall all of the great memories! 

Applying all of that to holidays particularly the Fourth of July, it's easy to see why there are such good memories for myself tied to Independence Day. After all, it was a day in the middle of summer where myself and all of my friends would go to community events such as the Fourth of July parade downtown in the morning followed up by a community festival that included plenty of art vendors, carnival rides, games, and food trucks. After spending nearly the entire day at that festival, my friends and I would make our way back to our homes for a family cookout before meeting back up with each other a few hours later to watch the nighttime fireworks show which was usually accompanied by a patriotic concert or patriotic music playing in the background. 

The enriching memories tied to the Fourth of July bring a ton of different emotions and feelings for myself and anyone else that identifies as an INFJ. Not only does it make all of us want to hit the rewind button and go back to those great, youthful days of the past, it also makes all of us attempt to find a way to recapture those things in our current life and participate in similar activities to celebrate any holiday. As an adult, holidays including Independence Day simply do not feel the same because the state of the world has changed, there's adult responsibilities that are now mixed in, and that curiosity factor touched on earlier doesn't exist to the level that it once did as a child.

Anyone that is an INFJ can relate to those feelings, emotions and memories. INFJ's know that in their own fantasy world there is still that childhood side that longs for the past and longs for those glory days in summer where there were no worries, where you were able to play with friends from sunrise to sunset, and where the world seemed like one big playground full of mystery, wonder, and excitement. Those thoughts and feelings not only correlate to the Fourth of July, but to any other holiday as well including the major ones such as Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Now, you may be wondering what the importance of this blog post is and to that point, I will say that it's to give a deeper awareness and understanding to those that don't fully understand the INFJ personality yet. To better understand, the emotional attachment and feeling that are attached to holidays. Holidays allow INFJ individuals the ability to be creative, use their imagination in an enriching way, and really try to connect current life events to previous good, vivid childhood memories of old. It is not easy to describe on paper, but for anyone that is an INFJ the correlation is clear. 

Regardless, if nothing else, this blog post is to encourage those outside of the INFJ realm to cherish holidays and find a way to connect to those memories from childhood. You may be an adult now and life may be vastly different considering the state of the world. Although, there's that little piece of longing to be a child again that exists in all of us and holidays are a great time to demonstrate that within the local community surrounded by your neighbors, family members and friends. 

So for the next holiday that you celebrate as an individual, I encourage you to take that time to reflect on your childhood, think of the enormous amount of curiosity that you used to have about the holiday itself, and recall the enriching memories you might have attached to that holiday with family members and friends alike. It won't be a cure all for everything and might not solve your current problems. However, it allows you to take a break from the hustle and bustle of being an adult and recall the happiness of your youthful days. It also allows you to show the world your true authentic self which is always highly encouraged on here. The world is always craving more authenticity!

For now, remember to hold your head up, smile at strangers that you may interact with on a daily basis, and always be open to helping out another individual whenever the need may arise. Take care until next time friends!