March 8 was International Women’s Day.

Like many others who are or identify as female, I have mixed feelings about that particular holiday.

On the one hand, I’ll take any excuse to celebrate - especially now. It’s been a rough year, following on a rough few years, for so many people. A chance to light a candle, sing a song, ponder the accomplishments of intelligent, strong, and influential women – I’m all for it!

On the other hand, somewhere around half the world’s population is biologically female or identifies as female. We only get one day out of 365? And the other 364 days are . . . International Men’s Day?

What’s up with that?

That argument can go in circles, of course. For those who observe Christmas as a celebration of the birth of Christ, does that mean the rest of the year is a celebration of the secular?

Does the fact that Thanksgiving occurs once a year suggest we don’t need to put any effort into gratitude on other days?

Does Black History Month mean we can ignore either the oppression and marginalization of Black people, or the contributions of Black people to our communities and our world, after February is over? (As an aside, how shameful it is that not only do we only recognize one month as Black History Month, but it is the shortest month.)

Does Earth Day suggest we can ignore environmental degradation and our role in it after April 22?

The answer to all those questions is clearly, “Of course not.”

(On the other hand, one Presidents Day definitely does mean ordinary citizens are or should be the focus on Non-Presidents Days).

And at the same time, this is how many of us behave. We read a speech on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, give the hero no thought the rest of the year. Say a long-winded prayer of thanksgiving in November, and then revert to wallowing in self-pity.

It is good to set aside a day to commemorate something, focus on a goal, or celebrate someone simply for existing. That’s why we celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day in my house, not to mention birthdays. (In my family, we get a whole Birthday Week – because one day just isn’t enough.)

But patting myself on the back for it, imagining I’ve successfully done my duty by the celebrated person or persons or movements, without taking any action to honor the underlying principle of the day, and thinking I can now go back to my “regularly scheduled program” – that suggests I’ve entirely and embarrassingly missed The Point.

It is my hope that we can use these single expressions of the important elements of our lives as reminders not to take them for granted, or ignore our obligations, the rest of the year.

So Happy Women’s Day, everyone – today (two days after the fact) and every day! And while we’re at it, let’s keep celebrating  Black History Month, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Earth Day, National Coming Out Day, and Thanksgiving.

And since I’m a writer who has adopted the hashtag #ReadABook, I’ll end with this marvelous quote by Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai:

“Extremists have shown what frightens them most:
a girl with a book.”

One way to honor International Women’s Day is this: find a book by a strong, intelligent woman, or about women’s work for peace and justice in the world, read it, and use those words to take action to make the world a better place for all of us.

Check out this list of books by and about female activism and empowerment: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/women-empowerment-books-activism

And this list of charitable organizations by and for women https://swirled.com/women-run-nonprofits/

Social media image by Joel Muniz; thumbnail image by Gemma Chua-Tran.