Existence Day 2024!

Blaike Gillshaw

19th June, 2024

Blaike Gillshaw is a Plymouth based Writer and Illustrator who documents life in poetry, prose and satire cartoons often focusing on the extrodinary nature of mundanity. Check out their works here.

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Five years ago, I made up a holiday called 'Existence Day' which takes place on the 17th November. It's a holiday where you spend the whole day celebrating the people and things that you're glad exist. It takes place in the winter because it's cold and dark and easy to forget how many brilliant things there are in the world so i figured a day where you are forced to remember them couldn't be a bad thing.

It seems like a big thing, "existence" - and it is - but the holiday isn't daunting or serious. It's the opposite really. One year, I celebrated Bourbon bicucuits and another year I celebrated stairs and lifts and ladders. It's about finding the small parts of life that we overlook and take for granted and realise that they are actually really cool and can add joy to our lives all of the time.

Like most holidays, it's mostly just an excuse to tell people that you love them and to eat good food but I do really think that it's important to remember how crazy it is that we all exist on this floating ball and get to ride bikes and sing songs and fall in love and learn about new things. Existing is so hard sometimes and it's really incredible that we're all doing it and that we choose to keep doing it even when it's really bloody difficult. I think we should celebrate that!

This year I think i'm going to celebrate Peanut Butter Kit Kats and going to the cinema.

Below are some of my favourite things to do on existence day!