Cheers! To Your Health! Art and Story by Sandra Russell

Cheers! Original Art by Sandra Russell

Cheers! To Your Health!

 

I was wondering about how we toast one another during the holidays and especially it seems on New Year’s Eve. We often say "Cheers!" and of course that is a pleasant greeting but where did it start and what does it mean?

 

Well many opinions are out there about why we offer a 'toast'. Some say it was ancient Greek and the pouring of the first sip of a beverage was offered to the gods and that now the sip is symbolically offered to a friend, to the guest of honor, or to the overall assembly- to your health and happiness, to a successful venture etc.  Even though we take the sip ourselves, the toast is the offering. The word Cheers! then has a history in France before the 18th C of meaning 'face'. I like that because when toasting or saying the word "cheers" your eyes meet, all heads up and focused on each face in turn, sometimes the glasses are clinked to show present in the moment. It is a moment of real recognition to each individual in that moment. Interestingly, the television show "Cheers" features a song lyric- 'where everybody knows your name'. That fits with seeing fully someone's identity, what a great respect that is. 

 

I still have an old Valentine (very fancy, Victorian cut outs with flowers and honey sweet sentiments) that my grandfather had given his young spinster sister back in the 20's.  Remembering how much time it took him to get ready to go to town and the thrifty (poor) fellow he was, such an elaborate card would have represented great thought, feeling and effort on his part to get something so beautiful. In general, he came across as a rough and tough sort of guy, but he had a sentimental side that revealed itself in gestures often ignored by others.

 

It is a lazy habit to clump people into types or categories because the opportunity to cultivate a fuller understanding is lost. Not only is it unfair to the other person, but it is also really unfair when you do it to yourself- when you allow a nickname or an aspect of yourself to become your 'face'. You have a bigger face...so let people see it. Hold your head up, look them in the eye; and to your health and progress- "Cheers!"