Tradition.
A word often used around the holidays. A word that I both love and hate.
As I get older, I love traditions during the holidays. They make the time feel familiar and comforting.
There is a piece of tradition that I would love to see passed down from generation to generation so that even the littlest of kiddos has that same feeling of comfort.
My family has a tradition of eating a large Italian meal on Christmas Eve. It used to be a grand affair when I was young. Everyone would come over, and we would sit at the table for hours and do a 4-course meal, and afterward, we would sometimes play games, but sometimes there would just be a great engaging conversation. I sometimes think that I learned how to have a good discussion at that dinner table at Christmas.
The tradition has changed over the years to not be the same type of long meal at the table anymore as people have passed or moved. The meal is quicker now and the conversation lost. I feel old when I say that I miss that. But the people around the table now were never ones to sit and talk. They are the ones living out their traditions now.
There is also a part of the tradition that I hate. The part where nothing can change or people get upset. And yes, I realize I am contradicting myself. But, I really feel like some people get really stuck in their traditions, to the point where if anything changes, they lose their enjoyment of the time, and there is just a feeling of grumpiness or unhappiness. This part of tradition should be something that we all try to avoid.
This year, I want to try to make some new traditions.
So, I will do the old as much as I can and then do some new too. Maybe one of the new ones will stick. Maybe it won’t. The value for me is in the trying. Because I am always trying to do more. And I always want to be open to the new, because I don’t want to become the old, grumpy one who is so set in their ways that anything new is just wrong.
So, this holiday, what should I try as a new tradition?
And to you, Happy Holiday season. Enjoy whatever holidays you celebrate to the fullest!