I'm a University Graduate. I'm a singer and a songwriter and a guitarist. I'm a writer. I'm a friend. These are things I'm proud of.

I'm Canadian. I'm male. I'm white. These are not things I'm proud of. I am not ashamed of these things, but neither am I proud of them.

I do not understand people who say that they are proud to be what they just are. When someone tells me they are proud to be female or male, I ask them how hard they worked to achieve being that. Is it really a personal victory to be born this gender or that? Do we set a personal goal in the womb, and work our tiny, undeveloped minds and wills towards that goal? No. We don't. People who say they're proud to be white, or proud to black, or proud to be aboriginal just sound stupid.

I wonder the same thing about people who say they are proud of their nationality. The only people who should be proud of being Canadian is immigrants who worked hard to meet the standards we set for citizenship. Those people who make Canada a beautiful land of diversity by complementing our diverse landscape with their cultures are the people who should be proud to be Canadian. I certainly can't be a "Proud Canadian". I was born here. My citizenship was handed to me, no questions asked. For me, being a "Proud Canadian" would be like the son of a millionaire being proud of all the money he's made.

The important distinction to be made here is between "pride" and "celebration". I love being a white, male Canadian. There is nothing I'd rather be. I celebrate daily who I am because my life is a daily celebration of the world and the people in it. I'm glad to be who and what I am and I will never be ashamed of it. That, thank goodness, does not make me proud.

Celebration brings people together. Pride drives people apart. Pride carries the implication, however subtle, veiled, and small, that whatever one is proud of is better than everything else. What comes to mind when you think of the phrase "a proud breed"? I think of people who are isolated and anti-social, too good for anyone else, and probably forced into inbreeding.

Many minorities proclaim "pride". Gay pride, black pride, etc. But, when manifested the best way, what they show isn't pride at all, but celebration. Gay pride day is just a celebration of self-love and self-acceptance. Heritage Days, in my home town, is a perfect example. Everyone there is celebrating their own culture, while sharing it with others. So everyone is celebrating everyone else's culture, while staying true to their own. This is ideal.

What is not ideal is everyone walking around shouting about how "proud" they are of being whatever they happened to be born into. Barking about one's pride just leads to communication breakdown, misunderstanding, conflict, and isolation. Reveling in the beauty of one's self, and of other people is the surest route to personal fulfillment and inner peace.

This of course does not mean that it is best "celebrate" the bigotry of others. People born into a mindset of gay-bashing and racism should not be celebrated, for they do nothing but harm. These are the people who make days such as gay pride day and black pride day necessary. It is also necessary to be suspicious of people who contradict themselves, and harp about how proud they are to adhere to a philosophy whose central tenet is humility.

Those who are truly at peace with themselves and with the world are not proud. They are glad to be who they are, they love being what they are, and for those reasons they don't need to be sure everyone else knows it, and they reap all of the wonderful things offered by those are different from them. Most of all they are not proud, but happy.