Today is the Cutest Holiday Since Valentine's Day - And Most People Don't Even Know About It

OMG - Do you know what today is??


MAY DAY!!


And, as I mentioned about four seconds ago, it's the cutest holiday since Valentine's Day! Yet, somehow, most people are completely unaware of the lovely tradition that is May Day. So I'm gonna tell you how it works.

Known to many as a pagan fertility festival (Beltane) or something related to Communism, what May Day is really about... is anonymous gift-giving. 

If you have a bestie or family member that you love -- and especially if there's someone you fancy -- you make them a little May Day basket. Fill it with things like flowers, chocolates, fruits and candy. Or perhaps sunglasses and headphones. Or a small potted herb -- you know, for cooking. (Is there anything more delicious and spring-y than fresh basil? No, right?) Or just something you think the bestie/family member/apple of your eye would really appreciate. (I wrote a little gift-giving guide back in February that I think applies well here.)

Now make a break for it!! Image credit: The Simple Moms.

And THEN! You take your basket to their doorstep... knock on the door... and

This doesn't apply to friends or family, but if it's the apple of your eye and they catch you, you have to kiss on the lips! (I'm pretty sure that's real and I didn't just make it up. But that's the wonderful thing about traditions, right? They evolve.)

Why do I love, love, love May Day? Several reasons:

1. It's playful. May Day is a chance for you to be silly, thoughtful, sneaky and a little ninja-like. 
2. Science proves that spending as little as $5 on someone else makes us happy. 
3. It's not just a gift -- it's also an experience. Which, science proves, makes us happy.
4. Random acts of kindness are awesome. 
5. It's selfless. An anonymous gift is like a kiss on the forehead. It's loving, because you expect nothing in return. 
6. Isn't it just the most wholesome, innocent little tradition ever?

NPR did a thing about this yesterday. According to A Forgotten Tradition: May Basket Day,

A reporter in the Sterling, Ill., Gazette in 1871 explained the seasonal ritual this way: "A May-basket is — well, I hardly know how to describe it; but 'tis something to be hung on a door. Made of paper generally, it contains almost anything, by way of small presents you have in mind to put in it, together with your respects, best wishes — love, perhaps. It is hung after dark at the door of anybody the hanger fancies. — Which done, the said hanger knocks and scampers."

The writer went on to say, in the spirit of the times, that if a boy hangs a May basket on a girl's door and the girl catches him, "it's a great disgrace." If a girl is the hanger, "it disgraces the boy again not to catch her."

Which basically means that I disgraced at least one person this morning. 

But then again, look what he was up against:

Poor boy never stood a chance.

***

Did you deliver any May Day baskets this morning? If not -- it's not too late!! Take the May Day Challenge!! After all, May 1 isn't even halfway over yet! Take 15-30 minutes out of your day today to do something awesome for someone awesome -- and you'll both feel special and good about it. 

I promise -- everything's always worth it.