It seems like every time you flip over the calendar, there are countless special holidays or observances coming up.
They run the gamut from days marked by millions of faithful individuals around the world, to those aimed at pure commercial gain, to those that are just plain silly. Apparently, August is Admit You're Happy Month and Romance Awareness Month. Need we say more?
Some of them help create good discussion and even public policy - consider, for example, World Breastfeeding Week running till Aug. 7. That type of international event helps promote the spread of valuable information, support and education to people around the globe.
It's safe to say it ranks a whole lot higher than, say, National Middle Child Day, happening later this month. Yes. Middle children have their own day, presumably to join with others in the same predicament of being neither first-born nor the baby. Terrible burden for those poor middle children.
But, we digress. The point is, though there seems to be a never-ending stream of "special days," and we may begin to tire of hearing of them, some of them are exceedingly valuable to people around the globe. One such event is International Youth Day, happening Aug. 12 this year and which officially closes the International Youth Year, which began in August 2010.
This year's events are based on the theme "dialogue and mutual understanding." On a global level, that can take on a variety of meanings as it translates to different cultures and nationalities, different religions and even different generations.
To us, on a local level, it all boils down to a much simpler concept: talking and listening. You don't even need to attend a parade or sign up for activities. Just talk. And listen. Parents, talk to your kids. Kids, talk to your friends - or, more importantly, those you don't yet consider friends. Open the door for dialogue and mutual understanding will follow.
