Traditions

Tradition: Rituals, beliefs, or objects that are passed down within a society or family; a custom, or specific practice of long-standing.

As I walked to work this week through Lincoln Center, there were numerous workers on ladders wrapping intricate lighting designs around the trees that line the streets. Holiday cups have made their seasonal debut at Starbucks. People are constructing elaborate window displays in stores all over the city. The holiday season is upon us and, with the holiday season, comes the inevitable flurry of holiday traditions--pressured by modern media, others, or internally constructed pressure, and then reinforced by everything from window displays to coffee commercials.

I love traditions. From old traditions like decorating the Christmas tree with ornaments that I have had since birth or singing carols at the Christmas Eve service to new(er) traditions like "winter festivities" ice skating and secret santa with my friends or M. and I's yearly purchasing of our Christmas tree--which is a vastly different experience in New York City than the farm Christmas tree chopping of my youth--there is something comforting in traditions.

That said, I also love things that are non-traditional or unorthodox and feel that we should never get so caught up in tradition that we lose the ability to grow, change, and let new and wonderful things into our lives. It's easy to get caught up in the idea that we have to do the same thing in the exact same way year after year after year, but the reality is that if our lives were the same year in and year out, they would be boring, staid, and lackluster. 

Saturday morning, after a late night out Friday night, I was snuggling on my couch with my dog and I turned on the television to mindlessly watch something. I ended up watching the cheesy movie Christmas with the Kranks in its entirety. While the movie is a comedically modern Christmas movie, the films take on traditions I found completely endearing. 

In the film, The Krank's daughter tells them that she will not be coming home for Christmas that year. The couple, always obsessed with Christmas, decides to skip all of their usual Christmas traditions and go on a cruise. They forego Christmas trees, decorations, presents, and holiday hams, and are about to leave for the Caribbean when their daughter calls and says that--SURPRISE--she will be home after all. After a freak-out that they have not prepared for Christmas, they race around trying to recreate the exact same Christmas they have always had, failing miserably in their attempts. Ultimately, the family creates a new Christmas tradition, with pieces of the old traditions, and it ends up being the best holiday they have ever had; one of personal growth, redemption, and all of the aspects of the holidays that really matter. 

The past few years have brought many changes to my life; changes that have made it impossible to cling to every single old tradition, especially during, what can be, an intense holiday season when so often there is a pressure to maintain and perfectly render a holiday of shiny glazed turkeys, festive  holiday centerpieces, and apple pies that taste so incredible that you want to smile like a family in a Norman Rockwell painting. This message is often incongruous with a holiday that obfuscates a history of violence against the people indigenous to this country or the fact that so many people in this continent will be homeless this holiday season, but I digress...I guess what I am saying is that sometimes in the name of maintaining the tradition, the reasons for the inception of the tradition are lost. 

I guess I end with the sentiment that as wonderful as traditions are, they can also be confining and there is nothing wrong with opening ourselves to new things. We might even enjoy ourselves--or, better yet, appreciate what really matters! And, don't get me wrong, I will be the first one to begin playing The Nutcracker soundtrack the day after Thanksgiving, I will also probably purchase too many apple pies to count at the Farmer's Market from now until Christmas, and I will sing "Silent Night" loudly on Christmas Eve as I hold a candle at the candlelight service, but, that said, I look forward to all of the amazing adventures and joy that are birthed from the breaking of old traditions, the appreciation of all that I have, being with family and friends, and doing my best to help others in the spirit of the season during the holidays as well.