Holiday Traditions Part 1
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
I was on a walk this week discussing holiday traditions and how they often fall somewhere on the spectrum between nostalgic joy and stressful obligation. This discussion prompted me to text dozens of my friends and family asking them what their favorite holiday traditions were. I got so many responses that it led to this post being a two parter. The responses included more elaborate events like organized gingerbread house competitions, extended family secret Santa, and a women-only silly ornament exchange, to the simpler listening to Warner Bros Jazz Christmas Party, sleeping in the same room as their siblings, and getting a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.
One of my favorites was a massive family game day (you should see the videos) where everyone was shrieking with joy and laughter. I mean for me personally it's my social-battery nightmare, but I loved it for them. Many of the traditions were centered around food; friends enjoying making Latkas for Hannukah, homemade pizzas for breakfast and the Christmas Eve traditions of homemade lasagna or the feast of seven fishes. If I had to pick one food one though it would definitely be the homemade Bailey's Irish cream (takes break to add Baily's to my coffee) which is technically drinking my breakfast but it's the Holidays so let me have this one.
What was fun for me in all the responses was seeing just how varied it was. Some people had carried on traditions from their childhood, while others had no traditions from their youth but chose to start them because studies have shown that having traditions has lasting impact beyond the month of December: "opting into holiday traditions generates greater feelings of happiness throughout the year for everyone in the family." So those matching pjs and drives to look at the lights matter more than you think.
When we think of tradition, we often think of something that's lasted generations, but it is important to remember that all traditions start somewhere. If you have no traditions yet, maybe this is the year when you try something new and see if it sticks. You’ll know you found a good one when the joy of the tradition far outweighs any stress you may incur making it happen. When the stress outweighs the joy, however, that’s when you fall into the traditions trap - but more on that next week. In the meantime, just remember that there’s no wrong way to tradition as long as you’re making memories.
