Backward Day. 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.
How to Celebrate Backward Day
It all starts when you get up in the morning. Wear your clothes inside out and your underwear as your outerwear, or be a bit more reasonable and slip into your pajamas. Have a nice hot pizza for breakfast, and answer the phone with “Goodbye! Thank you for calling!” When you get to work tell your boss you’re glad he made it in today, and hand him a dollar as a bonus for all his hard work.
When lunchtime comes around, have yourself a nice big helping of dessert. Greet everyone throughout the day with a goodbye, and as you walk out the door, say hello to everyone and tell them to have a great day. These are just some of the wonderful doses of insanity you can add to everyone’s day on Backward Day.
That night, when it’s time to go bed, turn off that alarm, get into your work clothes, and crawl into bed. (Ok… Turn the alarm back on. You’ll need that tomorrow) This is the great way to celebrate Backward Day, and add a little madness to the mundanity of life, and free your mind from the tyranny of ‘normal’.
January 31st honors everything backward. National Backward Day is an opportunity to reverse our ways, our direction or simply our shirt. Dessert for breakfast, perhaps? There are many ways to celebrate this fun day, so just let your imagination be your guide.
This day is very popular with school-aged kids but there is no age limit on who can participate in all of the backward fun. So EVERYONE, let’s have some fun!!
FUN FACT: Leonardo da Vinci wrote backward. Not only did the artist and inventor write from right to left, he wrote his letters backward.
