As I write this, it is a cold, rainy Monday. Cold. Rainy. Monday.

What could possibly be worth celebrating today?

I was reminded of what was worth celebrating when I heard a song that was part of the soundtrack of my childhood.

I spent a good part of the day yesterday with my son, going to an airshow across the river in Quebec. On our way there, as he was driving, we were jumping from radio station to radio station; we landed on a classic rock station playing vintage 60’s and 70’s music as part of their Sunday morning format.  I heard the familiar Motown-influenced chugging beat of Rare Earth’s “I Just Want to Celebrate” and was transported to being a kid, listening to a vinyl record on the ancient hi-fi stereo in my family’s living room, a record that belonged to my oldest brother.

I just want to celebrate another day of living/ I just want to celebrate another day of LIFE! 

It was more than nostalgia, it was an important reminder. This song sounds borderline ridiculous in our cynical, ironical, digital age where everything is mocked and everything is undermined by some vapid meme. But at that moment, hearing it while I was with my son, thinking of his life and his continuing struggle to overcome anxiety and depression, thinking of the same struggle that my daughter is going through, thinking of the heaviness of living… Well, this almost impossibly sunny tune was just what I needed.

Don’t let it all get you down, no, no/ Don’t let it turn you around! 

Okay – It is a cold, rainy Monday. It remains a cold, rainy Monday. But I choose how I’m going to receive this day and, dammit, I just want to celebrate another day of LIFE!