For years, I thought May Day was simply a celebration.
It was a day for children to quietly leave May baskets on neighbors’ doorsteps, ring the bell and run away laughing before being seen. It was cheerful, harmless and rooted in kindness.
I remember attending a friend’s wedding on May Day years ago. They even danced around a Maypole in celebration of spring. The day carried a sense of renewal, friendship and community.
Fun. Happy. Hopeful.
Little did I know that May Day has increasingly become associated with protests and demonstrations. This year, nationwide attention focused on marches, rallies and anti-everything protests filling streets and highways across the country.
Instead of baskets filled with treats, we now see crowds shouting demands while carrying professionally printed signs and banners.
Professionally printed.
Those signs are not cheap. Someone is funding them. One cannot help but wonder who is behind it all and what the true purpose may be.
Even more troubling is that many protesters, when interviewed, often seem uncertain about exactly what they are protesting or why.
That is the sad part.
May Day once represented thoughtfulness and simple human connection. Children delighted in secretly giving gifts and hiding nearby just to watch someone smile.
Today, too much of public life seems fueled by outrage, division and anger.
Most Americans know little about the origins of May Day. Some associate it only with International Workers’ Day or former communist nations. Yet parts of the tradition trace back centuries to Beltane, an ancient celebration of rebirth, fertility and the arrival of spring.
At its core, it was about life beginning again.
Maybe that is what we need more of today.
Less shouting. Less hatred. Less division.
More kindness.
More surprises left on doorsteps.
More reasons to smile.
It is not too late to bring back some of those traditions. A small basket of flowers or treats left for a friend or neighbor still means something. Small gestures still matter.
Life can still be good today if we choose to make it that way.