Cinco de Mayo

“Winning cannot become your habit unless defeats have torn you apart
and you sit in the battle field
stitching back yourself
one piece at a time
laughing in the faces of all defeats.”
― Chetan M. Kumbhar, Panasu The Golden City & The Capasstars

For those who do not know, Cinco de Mayo is a United states celebration.  Only the town of Puebla, Mexico celebrate Cinco de Mayo.  Many may think this day is Mexico/s Independence Day.  It is not.  It is celebrating a small town that the Mexican Army beat the French in a battle of the Franco-Mexican War, and is a minor holiday where the Mexicans do not get a stat holiday.  The Americans celebrate with tacos and tequila and few remember that it is a day to celebrate Mexican culture and heritage.  

 The Americans celebrate with parades, mariachi, and fake sombreros (such a stereotypical ideology). Cinco de Mayo is, now, mainly about traditional food and dance and drinking with most thinking it is about Mexican Independence.  That seems not to matter, they celebrate as if it were. 

While it is about the winning of the battle of Puebla, what happened next is that the Mexicans lost the main battle, a few days later, in 1861.

What I take from Cinco de Mayo is that we need to learn to celebrate small victories, not the final result.  We can lose our little battles and yet, one should give oneself credit for those little times of success.  Celebrate those small successes like there were no tomorrow. 

This painting came from 100 days of hair challenge. 

©Carol Desjarlais 5.5.20