NEW TRADITIONS - Brittlestar’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue #49
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NEW TRADITIONS
Well, that certainly wasn’t the Christmas we were hoping for.
Another year of worry and concern for our friends and family that extended beyond the usual “Is that your SEVENTH egg nog, Grandma?!”
Long-standing traditions had to be shelved or radically changed.
Good.
There, I said it.
Traditions can be wonderful. Ceremonial. A shared experience over generations…
But they can also be a huge pain in the ass.
Doing something because “we’ve always done it that way” can put that something out of the reach of reason and reproach and logic.
I’m reminded of my poor mother charged with preparing a Christmas meal for our entire extended family… 8 people. I know that’s not a lot for some, but in a tiny post-war home equipped with a tiny kitchen and a tiny Scottish woman who doesn’t really enjoy cooking to begin with… it was awful (not the meal).
A Christmas with guaranteed stress. Punctuated one year by my Mom checking the turkey in the oven, losing grip of said bird which fell out of the pan and on to the (inexplicably) carpeted kitchen floor… much to the delight of our dog, Benji, and Benji’s jet black dog hair.
The turkey was rinsed off in the sink, dinner resumed and my mother went to lay down.
That’s a crap tradition.
Sometimes we need to be forced to re-evaluate WHY we maintain some traditions and we need to really take a good look at what benefit they bring compared to what stress and damage they can do.
Traditions can be important. They can serve great purpose. Like providing a connection between family members and/or reminding them that they are loved and cared about.
The traditions I think you need to worry about are the arbitrary ones.
The ones where everyone goes along with it but no one enjoys it.
Don’t get me wrong. I love a good tradition and I know some of them require effort and aren’t 100% fun but…
This second crapulent Christmas has forced us to abandon some traditions and forced us to forge some new ones.
That’s exciting. A chance to make new traditions that hopefully more people enjoy.
This is the second year that we’ve video chatted with Shannon’s family. Normally we wouldn’t see any of them… it’s lovely. Seeing them that is, not normally not seeing them… honest.
Too many old unscrutinized traditions hang like chains around our necks that we pull down on ourselves.
Think about your traditions. Keep the good ones. Start some new ones.
Happy Boxing Day
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Pictured: Author's family partakes in evolving tradition of reading Santa Mouse
Pictured: Author partakes in evolving tradition of Boxing Day Barbecue