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New Traditions
by Kent Lewis
Like the dropping of the ball in Times Square, Anvil's Best Of issue has become a tradition, albeit a new one. While it may seem like an oxymoron to have such things as "new traditions," I believe they play a crucial role in our overall happiness. For every dying tradition, a new one is born.
While my family is hardly traditional in the "traditional" sense, we do have our need for consistency and repetition. For the past 30 years, you could practically set a watch by the serving of turkey at Uncle Ron's house on Thanksgiving, and the pouring of coffee prior to the gift exchange at grandma and grandpa's house on Christmas Eve.
The past few years, however, the schedule has been altered by new additions to the family through marriage and birth. To many of the grandparents and great grandparents, change can be a sad, if not mildly frustrating situation. Yet to newlyweds and new parents, creating one's own family traditions takes one a life of its own.
When creating a new tradition, you first have to ask yourself "why am I doing this?" If you are replacing an older tradition, it can be helpful to figure out what it was about that tradition that you liked and figure out ways to make it even better. On the other hand, if you're starting from scratch with a new family, it helps to determine what values are most important and would be reflected in said new tradition.
With a new fiancé and baby girl, I've been inspired to start a few new traditions myself. Having a new family has meant decorating a Christmas tree; something I haven't done for 20 years. I look forward to creating other traditions as well. Some of which I may not realize are traditions until they happen again next year.something I'm very much looking forward to. |
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