What is Ayyam-i-Há? Well, in the Bahá’í calendar, the solar year is divided into 19 months of 19 days. The year starts on the spring equinox in Teheran, Iran. This means that the year can start on either the 20th or the 21st of March in the European calendar.
If you are good at math, you will immediately have calculated that 19 times 19 is only 361 days and the solar year has 365 1/4 days. What do we do with the extra four or five days? It is a time of hospitality and gift giving, a time to be with loved ones, both within the family and close friends. Ayyam-i-Há comes just before the last month of the Bahá’í year, ‘Alá’ or Loftiness, which is the month of fasting.
What does the 174 stand for? That is the Bahá’í year we are currently in.
This year we won’t be doing a lot of entertaining. The children have grown up and live far away. We are getting older and not up to the same amount of entertaining.
I also think it is important to use the time to reflect on one’s personal values. Having spent several hours every day for the last three days shoveling snow, I have had plenty of time to think while doing manual labor out in the fresh air. The result of today’s thinking is a renewed resolve to try to put some of my thoughts into this blog so that I can share them with others. I have read about research that says that people with mental issues are helped considerably when writing for 20 minutes a day. Not everything has to be read by others. Some thoughts we keep to ourselves and perhaps throw them away once they have been written. Other thoughts we want to share with others so they can understand what our values are or our standpoint is.
For those of you who read this, I would like to extend my love and greetings to you. Enjoy the five days of Ayyam-i-Há, even if you aren’t a Bahá’í. My resolve is to write more that can be shared with others.
Hva er Ayyam-i-Há? Bahá’í Troen har egen kalender, der året er delt i 19 måneder på 19 dager. Året begynner ved vårjevndag i Teheran, Iran. Det betyr at året kan begynne på enten den 20. eller 21. mars i den europeiske kalender.
Hvis du er flink med matte, har du allerede oppdaget at 19 ganger 19 er bare 361 dager og jorden tar 365 1/4 dager å gå rundt solen. Hva skal vi gjøre med disse ekstra fire eller fem dager? Det er tid til hygge og gi gaver, tid til å være sammen med de vi elsker, både familien og nære venner. Ayyam-i-Há kommer like før den siste bahá’í måned som er fastemåneden.
Hva står 174 for? Det er det bahá’í året vi er i nå.
Iår skal vi ikke gjøre så veldig mye. Barna har vokst opp og bor langt unna. Vi har begynte å føle årene vi bære med oss og har ikke det samme energi nivå for mye festing.
Også tenker jeg at det er viktig å bruke tid til å reflektere på sine egne personlige verdier. De siste tre dager har jeg brukte flere timer hver dag for å måke snø og mens jeg gjøre manuelt arbeid ute i frisk luften, tenker jeg på mye. Resultatet av dagens refleksjon er å være flinkere til å dele mine refleksjoner i denne bloggen. Jeg har lest om forskning som har funnet at å skrive i 20 minutter hver dag hjelper de som har problemer med mental helse. Det er ikke alt som skrives som skal deles med andre. Noen tanker holder vi for oss selv, kanskje sletter vi dem når de har blitt nedskrevet. Andre tanker vil vi dele med andre slik at de forstår hva er våre verdier og hva er vårt standpunkt.
For de som leser dette, vil jeg gjerne sende dere min kjærlighet og hilsninger. Ha glede av disse fem dager av Ayyam-i-Há, selv om du ikke er bahá’í.
Yes, I completely agree that it is important to spend time writing every day. Fortunately, my intended audience knows me so well, and the thoughts are repeated so often, that they don’t even have to burden themselves reading my writings. Sometimes, it isn’t even necessary to publish or even retain writings. Such was the case yesterday. I wrote a blog post, realized that it was unsuited for that format, cut it out and pasted it in an email. After a few minutes reflection, I realized it wasn’t suitable there either. While I let one person read it, I found that the best thing that could happen with it, was to discard it. Yes, sometimes things need to be written, but they don’t always need to be read.
Happy Ayyam-i-Há!