What is the day today?
Backwards Day!
upside down [ ˈʌp.saɪd ] [ daʊn ] вниз головой;
madness [ ˈmæd.nəs ] сумасшествие;
sanity [ ˈsæn.ɪ.ti ] здравомыслие, рассудок;
permitted [ pəˈmɪt ] разрешенный;
exemplifying [ ɪɡˈzem.plɪ.faɪ ] иллюстрирование.
The day where the world gets turned upside down and inside becomes out and madness becomes sanity and day becomes night, at least in concept. There’s just too much seriousness in the air, and sometimes you really just have to bend all the rules and let it all hang out.
History of Backward Day
Backward Day has a really long history, far older than the name of the holiday itself. In almost every culture there came a time of year when all the societal rules got turned on their head. Rome had Saturnalia, a day when all social norms were turned on their head. Gambling was no longer forbidden, and the masters took the day serving their slaves at the high table. During no other time was free speech actually permitted, especially amongst the slaves, but during Saturnalia, all manner of insult was allowed.
There are other cultures throughout the world that celebrate this changing of the guard, this overcoming of mores and exemplifying of wildness. In the end, it all comes down to questioning the way the world is established and the rules that we have in place to govern our behavior. Backward Day isn’t just a day of silliness, but of mental revolution.