Holidays can be used to show 'independence of expression'

Editor's note: This is one in a series of reports by Kathryn Dill, who is working at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, as part of a journalism internship. Dill, of Libertyville, is a 2004 graduate of Woodlands Academy in Lake Forest and a recent graduate of Boston College.

No one throws a party quite like a diplomat. And no one likes a party - or can sniff one out - quite like a journalist, especially at the United Nations.

At this international crossroads of culture, class and joie de vivre, it can seem sometimes as if there is always a bottle of champagne to be uncorked, an engraved invitation to be coveted, a gold star marking every day of the calendar year.

"Where are you going?" a colleague asked recently, as I zipped up my computer bag and headed toward the exit at 6 p.m. "The Kazakhs are unveiling an exhibition on the fifth floor. You know what that means"

Indeed. Morsels resting on glass leaves and circulated on gleaming trays, wine glasses shimmering with condensation, international artwork to be admired.

Not a bad way to spend an evening, or, for that matter, to wrap up the workday.

But while to the untrained observer it may appear that the mere arrival of a new day at the United Nations is cause enough for celebration, insiders abide by another social calendar, one devoted to recognition of struggles, achievements and failures, as well as discourse and the transmission of important information. While the U.N. community may demonstrate a tendency toward a particular sense of occasion, it is not reserved solely for throwing confetti.

One of the first events I covered upon arriving at the U.N. Office in Geneva was the International Labor Organization's World Day Against Child Labor. It was quickly followed by World Refugee Day, World Population Day, functions in honor of 2008 being the International Year of Languages, and a host of other gatherings marking the release of important documents, commemorating tragedies, and geared toward building a heightened sense of consciousness and sensitivity.

It has long been suggested by those championing citizenship and awareness in the United States that the fervor associated with some of our national holidays might be more constructive if it were channeled into an effort to foster cognizance, instead of being devoted primarily to the continued effort to grill the perfect hamburger. For years my own mother, raising her voice to be heard above the grumbling of her children, suggested that half a day in school on Veterans Day spent learning about the origins of and reasons for the holiday might do more for our development than a few more hours of sleep on a three-day weekend.

Little did I know I would find myself, years later, in an environment that takes full advantage of such opportunities for cultivation.

The present climate of discourse in the United States may have caused the transition, at least for the time being, of national holidays from purely celebratory to opportunities for conversation. This Fourth of July, unable to partake of the fanfare back home, I found myself perusing the Internet for some incendiary journalism to fill the void left by fireworks. Online magazines, forums, and blogs were overrun with commentary on what the holiday means for African Americans, for Americans enduring a summer of soaring energy prices and foreclosures, for Americans protesting the war in Iraq, and for Americans finding themselves that day in the places the war continues to play out.

Amidst the pomp and pinwheels were quite a few people using the holiday to assert their own independence of expression.

Some may argue that holidays are meant primarily as an escape from the circumstances of everyday life, as opposed to deliberate immersion in the facts and figures of its reality. But perhaps the opportunity of an occasion can be more complex - the chance to acknowledge and celebrate a point of origin, as well as imagine the possibility of an even greater future.

Whatever form a "holiday" may take, seizing opportunities to renew awareness, transmit information, and create the forums for discussion necessary to foster progress will always be cause for celebration.