Celebrating small holidays with a big, bear-shaped heart

By Libby D’Orvilliers

Stuffed animal lovers everywhere rejoice! Sept. 9 is National Teddy Bear Day!

As silly as that sentence sounds, over the past few years, I have turned my focus to a more micro-level when it comes to deriving happiness and joy in my everyday life as it can feel too disingenuous to try and celebrate more significant and high-spirited holidays when the world often seems to be crumbling around us.

With my micro-level focus on finding joy, comes my desire to celebrate mini “holidays.” Whether it be eating a cupcake from Daly Dining Hall on National Cupcake Day or hugging my teddy bear a little bit tighter on National Teddy Bear Day, I often jump at the chance to engage in micro-celebrations to get a little oxytocin boost in my day.

It is not necessarily always about what the holiday centers around, but honestly more about what it represents — something to keep going for. 

While some annual days come as more of a surprise to me — such as when there is a special sale at Muller’s Pub for National Pretzel Day — National Teddy Bear Day is one of my more anticipated “holidays.” I do often find myself mentally counting down the days to this particular observance. 

I do not do anything super over-the-top for this day, but something about knowing it is coming up gives me something to look forward to.

I have stuffed animals of a wide variety and while they are all worth celebrating, I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to highlight one of my bears; Poubelle. Yes, you read that right — Poubelle. As in the French word for “trash can.” I love him dearly. 

You see, at the end of my sophomore year at Rider, I was feeling pretty down as I was packing up my room and getting ready to say goodbye to my friends for the summer. I went to the trash room to toss some things out … and right when I opened the door, there on the floor, arm up in the air, as if waving and welcoming me, was Poubelle. I had to rescue him! I named him Poubelle, because, yes, I did quite literally adopt him from a trash can, but if you say it with an over-the-top French accent, it sounds to an untrained ear like a very posh name and makes me giggle.

I love stuffed animals. I am not afraid to admit it in the slightest. I am 22 years old and I still sleep with several stuffed animals. You may even see me walking around campus with a stuffed dinosaur backpack or a panda in the pocket of my bag. It is about time we have a day dedicated to celebrating these little friends that can bring us so much joy and comfort!

It is less about “celebrating” per se, and honestly more about finding my own type of mental peace. In a universe where everything seems so unpredictable and catastrophic, a nonsensical holiday can bring some brief levity to my days.

Plus, I know that my plush bear will not judge me when I scream into his stomach because of the chaotic political commentary I just heard on the news. In fact, he does not even blink. 

Additionally, when I get bursts of stress and anxiety when working on my homework, I know that I can reach over and grab my plush bear from my desk and give him a good, tight hug to lower my cortisol levels.

We all need something to look forward to, and in times like these, for me, it comes in the little things. I sincerely hope that you all had a very nice National Teddy Bear Day yesterday and an even better National Guacamole Day next Tuesday — I know I will be celebrating.

Libby D’Orvilliers is a senior psychology major