We’ve all celebrated Independence Day.  I say it’s time we graduate from that teenage like holiday and start celebrating Anti-Independence Day.  Perhaps we could call it Interdependence Day. The July 4^th holiday and the American cult/culture it helped create celebrates our desire to be and do whatever we want.  That’s a good start.  Yet, that’s not the end of our journey, just like being a teenager is not the end point of a person’s maturity level.  The truth is that we live in an interdependent world, and if we hope to make the world a better place, we need to acknowledge that we’re all in this together.

Before becoming mature adults, teens need to first assert their independence.  But the goal for a teen is to not stop there.  A middle-aged person still partying and being reckless like a teen is not a pretty sight.  But isn’t that what we’re doing?  The U.S.A. has been around for well over 200 years, yet we’re still proclaiming we’re the greatest and we don’t need anyone else.   Immigrants? We don’t need them.   The poor?  Let them fend for themselves.

Like a cancer that grows at the expense of the body that supports it, too much of a focus on “me” and my wants can be bad for the human body—or the human race.  In an age when even our phones and tablets start with the pronoun “I,” what we need is a little more “we.”

On a practical level, what would this look like?  It might look like people deciding to forego more hours at work for more time with their family– or volunteering at a soup kitchen.  It might look like being kinder to your neighbor or your co-worker.  After all, if we truly are interdependent, then what goes around comes around.

As a happiness “expert”

I find it interesting that the number one way to quickly boost one’s happiness involves asking yourself a simple question.  The question is, “What act of kindness can I do for a stranger or a friend today?”   Since we truly are all connected, when we acknowledge that fact by an act of kindness, we actually feel happier.

So I propose we celebrate Interdependence Day. We could make it on July 5^th—right after Independence Day.  Just as High School follows Middle School, Interdependence Day would represent a graduation from the mindset that we once needed to survive, but are starting to outgrow.  On Interdependence Day, instead of shooting off fireworks, we could practice acts of kindness.  By doing that, we’d feel better, our beneficiaries would feel better, and we’d be making a statement that we are indeed all connected.