How Will I Celebrate St. Patricks Day?

I have never been much of a holiday celebrator, I'm also am not much of a drinker. For those who know me, unless I'm expecting pictures to be taken, I rarely do much in the way of fashion and I've never eaten corned beef and cabbage. Why on Earth would I find this holiday important enough to write about? Well, it's because it's a holiday I have split feelings about.

This holiday is celebrated by millions of people, mainly for the good food, beverage and friends; but I would guess that not many people know exactly what this holiday is about, other than celebrating St. Patrick. Any holiday that starts with Saint, is going to be a Catholic holiday. Right there, that shows it's not in my realm of holidays, however I do celebrate a lot of holidays that aren't in my religion, such as I celebrate both November Eve and Halloween (same day, different holiday). I also celebrate Christmas for the family gathering, and Winter Solstice for my religious celebration. I'm okay with pulling from different traditions, I just want to know what they are all about first.

As I mentioned, St. Patricks day is a religious holiday, believe it or not. It celebrates the day St. Patrick died, not because he was bad, but because people wanted to remember him. I did a bit of research to see if my "common" knowledge on the subject was an accurate depiction of St Patrick, and it was. St Patrick was best known for returning to Ireland with a duel mission, both to teach the Christians who were already there and to convert the Pagans. This is where my indifference with the holiday begins to wane. I have never believed in converting people to any religion, no matter how long ago it happened. We are losing a lot of powerfully spiritual minority religions through the practice of converting others, and this is a practice I have a hard time finding a reason to celebrate.***

I hate to be a downer and refuse to celebrate a holiday that so many do for commercialized reasons; bringing the truth out just stops people for a moment then they return to their beer and laughs. I want to find a reason to celebrate this holiday, while feeling as though I'm addressing the issue I have against the holiday. As I've learned through social psychology, this is my attempt to work through the cognitive dissonance of the situation. I want to celebrate something I find appalling to celebrate. This is my answer to this conundrum.

While I typically take no part in the festivities of this particular holiday, I'm not saying I never will; this is the commercialized part of the holiday I have no issues with. The celebratory part I will add for religious purposes is to design a ritual promoting the diversity among religions and the harmony that can be created between them. Celebrating that which has been knocked down in the past is an appropriate way I feel I can add meaning to what appears to be a demeaning holiday.

***information regarding the origins of this holiday obtained from history.com: http://www.history.com/topics/who-was-saint-patrick