I love traditions! I have to admit the adjustment from living at home as a teenager and living on my own as a young adult has helped me realize how much I love traditions and so I’ve started to make my own traditions. However I’ve also realized that traditions take commitment and so I’ve learned a few tricks to selecting which traditions I want to keep and some that just didn’t make the cut.
These are three tips I like for deciding which traditions you want to maintain throughout the years to come.
1) Sentiment goes a long way. Traditions with a personal or sentimental value are more likely to last through the test of time. Otherwise it will get easier and easier for those participating to lose interest and the drive to fulfill the traditions year after year.
I collect ornaments for my Christmas tree when I travel. Now when I decorate my tree each year I remember all these amazing places I’ve been, who I was with, what I did the day I bought it and the stories behind the trip. It’s a fun and useful way to collect souvenirs and gives me something to look forward to during the sometimes lonely holiday season.
2) Not every tradition needs to be major. Include ‘little’ traditions like reading a book Christmas morning, watching a certain movie during the holiday season.
Each Thanksgiving day I watch the friend’s episode ‘with all the Thanksgivings’. Its about 30 minutes long and just what I need to get myself mentally ready for the day.
Another small tradition I have is to listen to River - Sarah McLachlan (Wintersong) - Watch more Videos at Vodpod. when I decorate my Christmas tree. It started from watching You've Got Mail and Meg Ryann talks about this song (the version by Joni Mitchell but I much prefer Sarah's version!) as she is decorating her tree and how much she loves and misses her mother and hangs a silver ice skate ornament. While visiting Minnisota I found a silver ice skate ornament and just had to get it! Can you see it in the picture above? (It's on the far right a little more than half up the tree)
3) Create flexible traditions. Maintaining traditions can be stressful especially the more stipulations you add and defined you make it. Instead of committing to something on a certain day (if the sentiment allows) opt for traditions that can adapt to your schedule each year.
I have made the tradition to watch White Christmas and Meet me in St. Louis during the holiday season. That way I don’t feel obligation on a given day or event & thus I can enjoy the tradition more when I get the craving for it. I've got an old soul, I just melt at the sound of Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. (just to name a few)
I stumbled upon an article called Family Change: Don't Cancel the Holidays! on Psychology Today where they discuss the importance of having and maintaining traditions. They talk about how traditions mimic cultural traditions, but on a smaller scale. The community can be comprised of a myriad of family, friends, co-workers ect. and we create a sense of identity from our traditions and the community they create. When traditions end it can affect our psyche and can often bring a sense of loss.
Without being a huge downer I will say I have definitely felt this, some of my favorite traditions have been lost in the shuffle of life and it breaks my heart a little (I'm wildly sentimental) so I’ve made sure that when I commit to a tradition, I make sure its one I can maintain and will be able to incorporate in my future… whatever and whoever that may include.
Happy holidays to you & yours!
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