This July Fourth will be unlike any other in our lifetimes.
We are about to celebrate the United States semiquincentennial. What’s that, you ask? It is the national celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and a major milestone indeed.
Anniversaries and birthdays are among life’s most important milestones. They are wonderful opportunities for gathering and celebrating. They also give us an opportunity to pause and reflect on where we are, where we have been, and where we are going.
Humans have been called “meaning-making machines.” Our brains are designed to make order out of what can seem like chaos, and birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries help us do just that. They mark the passage of time in a predictable way.
Long before smartphones, watches, or even written language, our ancestors carefully observed the cycles of the moon, the changing seasons, and the movement of the stars to make sense of their world. Early civilizations devoted enormous effort to creating calendars and keeping track of time. They built stone monuments aligned with solstices, developed lunar calendars of breathtaking precision, and organized their social lives around seasonal rhythms.
In many parts of the world, the changing seasons continue to serve as natural reminders of time’s passage. Here in Southern California, however, where we are blessed with sunshine throughout the year, holidays may play an even more important role. They become landmarks, helping us measure our lives, mark transitions, and remember that time is moving forward.
Every culture develops rituals to mark transitions. Graduations, weddings, anniversaries, retirements, and funerals help us acknowledge that something important has changed. They help us process endings, embrace beginnings, and create meaning from the passage of time.
Virtually every major religion incorporates rituals that mark time. Weekly Sabbaths, Ramadan, Easter, Passover, Diwali, Lunar New Year, and countless other observances remind us that humans have long understood the importance of stepping out of ordinary time to reflect, connect, and renew.
Our bodies are inherently linked with rhythms and cycles. We sleep and wake according to circadian rhythms. Hormones fluctuate throughout the day. Women experience reproductive cycles. Puberty transforms the body and mind, opening an entirely new chapter of life. Menopause marks another profound transition, accompanied by biological, emotional, and psychological changes. Even grief follows rhythms, with the acute pain often intensifying on anniversary dates and the passage of time serving as a powerful healer.
These milestones are not merely markers on a calendar. They provide opportunities for reflection. Yet reflection itself has become increasingly rare. In today’s fast-paced world, many of us move from one day to the next without stopping to evaluate where we are in the larger picture. We are constantly connected, continuously stimulated, and perpetually busy. Reflection has become an endangered activity, and this is taking a measurable toll on our psyche.
Researchers have identified a region in the brain that they call the Default Mode Network (DMN). This network becomes active when we are not focused on an external task. Nicknamed the “me,” “unfocus,” or “idle” network, the DMN is essential for creativity, memory consolidation, empathy, and constructing one’s sense of self. It helps us integrate experiences, learn from mistakes, imagine possibilities, and create the coherent life narratives that give us a sense of identity and purpose.
Many of us spend so little time in genuine quiet or reflection that we rarely access these benefits. Every spare moment is consumed by emails, social media, podcasts, news alerts, or other forms of entertainment. We are depriving ourselves of this important brain activity.
Fortunately, there are ways to strengthen this important network. Meditating, listening to music, exercising, praying, journaling, walking in nature, and other mindfulness practices have all been associated with beneficial changes. When practiced regularly, these activities appear to strengthen the DMN and have been associated with reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms. Simply taking a short nap or allowing your mind to drift can result in sharper thinking and improved creative fluency.
Remember when you couldn’t recall a name or fact and, once you stopped trying, it suddenly popped into your head? Or when you finished a project and moved on, only to have a new idea emerge seemingly out of nowhere? That is your DMN at work. It turns out that our default mode is not to stop thinking but to think inwardly. When we believe we are turning our brains off, we may actually be turning them toward ourselves. Ponder that for a moment.
If the DMN helps us make sense of our lives, then it stands to reason that activities specifically designed to foster self-reflection may be especially beneficial.
Psychotherapy may be one of the most powerful exercises for the DMN because it encourages us to revisit experiences, identify patterns, understand emotions, and imagine new possibilities. We grow not simply from our experiences, but from reflecting upon experience.
Reflection does not occur only at the individual level. Communities, organizations, and even nations benefit from periodically examining where they have been and where they hope to go. Just as milestone birthdays encourage personal reflection, milestone anniversaries like July Fourth invite collective reflection.
Milestones are rarely purely joyful. Anyone who has celebrated a 50th, 60th or 70th birthday understands that reflection often brings mixed emotions. We celebrate accomplishments while acknowledging disappointments, missed opportunities, and unexpected detours. Nations are no different. At 250 years old, America can take pride in remarkable achievements while also recognizing challenges that remain unresolved. Mature reflection requires room for both gratitude and remorse.
Interestingly, research suggests that people are more likely to make major life changes around milestone birthdays. Turning 30, 40, 50, or 60 often prompts individuals to reevaluate priorities, pursue new goals, and reconsider what gives their lives meaning. Milestones do not merely mark the passage of time; they influence how we experience it.
Consider the remarkable significance we attach to New Year’s Eve. The difference between 11:59 p.m. and midnight is only one minute, yet around the world billions of people gather to celebrate because crossing a symbolic threshold helps us organize our lives and renew our sense of possibility.
Do you recall New Year’s Eve in the year 2000? That was indeed a major milestone, and the collective mood was one of anxiety. Many feared that computer failures would bring modern civilization to a standstill. Instead, the world entered a new century and continued forward. Looking back, that moment reminds us how difficult it is to predict the future and how often our greatest fears fail to materialize.
We also mark collective milestones. Many Americans can instantly recall where they were when humans first landed on the moon, during the events of September 11, 2001, or when the COVID-19 pandemic first disrupted everyday life. Such moments become shared markers that help define generations and organize our collective memory.
National holidays are often viewed primarily as opportunities for a break from work and a chance for recreation, travel, and family gatherings. They also create a collective pause. They help us appreciate the passage of time and invite us, together, to step out of our daily routines and consider larger questions. When millions of people stop at once, something important happens: we are reminded that we are all part of a larger story.
Families will gather for barbecues. Neighbors who may rarely interact will share food, conversation, and watch fireworks light up the sky. In an era when loneliness has become a public health concern, these moments of connection are more important than ever.
We are profoundly social creatures. Positive social interactions stimulate the release of oxytocin, often called the bonding, love, or cuddle hormone. Oxytocin promotes trust, emotional connection, generosity, and feelings of safety. Remember last week’s article about the World Cup and collective effervescence? July Fourth offers another opportunity to come together and experience that same sense of belonging and shared joy.
Lastly, holidays can generate what psychologists call moral elevation—the uplifting feeling we experience when witnessing acts of courage, generosity, kindness, or selflessness. Research suggests that moral elevation inspires us to become better versions of ourselves. In the prophetic words of Abraham Lincoln, it can awaken “the better angels of our nature.” Moral elevation creates a ripple effect, encouraging greater compassion, cooperation, gratitude, and civic engagement. And no matter how many times you have watched fireworks burst overhead, they still have the power to evoke wonder and awe.
As we celebrate this extraordinary 250th birthday, let us pause and reflect about our journey as individuals and as a nation. Who are we? What have we learned? What are we proud of? What disappointments still call for growth? How can we become better citizens, better neighbors, and better human beings? What role does each of us play in the ongoing story of this relatively young nation?
By American standards, 250 years may seem old, yet it is remarkably young by the standards of human civilization. Like all milestone birthdays, this one invites both celebration and continued growth.
Reflection is not about dwelling on the past; it is about learning from it so that we can move forward with greater wisdom and purpose.
Wishing you a joyous, meaningful, and reflective Independence Day.
“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.”
—Benjamin Franklin
Beverly Hills Courier columnist Dr. Eva Ritvo is a psychiatrist with more than 30 years’ experience practicing in Miami Beach. She is the author of “Bekindr-The Transformative Power of Kindness” and the founder of the Bekindr Global Initiative, a movement to bring more kindness in the world. She is the co-author of “The Beauty Prescription” and “The Concise Guide to Marriage and Family Therapy.” She is also the co-founder of the Bold Beauty Project, a nonprofit that pairs women with disabilities with award-winning photographers creating art exhibitions to raise awareness. Dr. Ritvo received her undergraduate and medical degrees from UCLA, and psychiatry residency training at Weill Cornell Medicine.
