Creating Uniqueness In Your Celebrations
Hello, and welcome back to a wonderful month.
Hopefully you enjoyed the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations during the first weekend of this month, and made the most of the extra Bank Holiday.
In this post I shall write about traditions more generally, in particular about how you might like to invent some of your own, and how you might tailor traditional celebrations to make them unique to your own family—dogs included of course!
It’s true that celebrating a special day such as Christmas or New Year in the ‘traditional’ way—the way most people around you do--can reinforce your sense of community, of being part of a larger group. But if within that larger structure you create a sense of uniqueness—some traditions of your own--it will make the occasion even more special. You’re also more likely to remember those events. Research shows we remember better the unexpected, the times when things do not go as planned rather than those occasions when everything is the same as it’s always been.
To help spark your imagination, allow me to offer two personal examples of how to create and/or modify your own traditions:
Six years ago, for complicated reasons I didn’t get around to ordering a Christmas turkey and by the time I realised, it was too late. But this didn’t faze my kids. My daughter suggested we make pancakes and fill them with whatever each of us wanted instead. It was such a success that we’ve continued this ‘tradition’ ever since!
We also created ‘official’ birthdays in my family—everyone celebrates their birthday twice each year, once on the day each was born and once on a day they choose. Double the gifts, double the parties—what’s not to like?!
Have fun with traditions, and see if you can come up with ways to make them your own.
Until next time, all the best,
Linda