Health & Fitness
Big Question: What is this dream of 'holiday' all about?
December Series "If Only in My Dreams" from Elizabeth Howard at "Letters from a Small State" asks: What is this dream of holiday about?
This December, my BIG QUESTION series is "If Only in My Dreams."
The question asks: What is this dream of holiday all about?
Yes, that is a BIG question, and what does it mean?
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Thinking about Tradition
We are entering into the big weekend: Anticipation, anxiety and haste are all around. But we do get a minute or two -- in the car, before falling asleep -- to stop and think.
We engage in lots of traditions this time of year, often with our families and close friends. Travel, gift exchanges, cutting down and decorating trees, lighting candles, baking special cookies and meals.
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Why do we practice traditions?
Why are they meaningful to us?
As we get older and our family lives change, how do we reshape our traditions?
What is the impact of memory on current practice of tradition?
For example, I know it has been very hard on my brother to let go of our "kids" gift exchange. This is despite the fact that all my five siblings and I are in our 30s and 40s and have kids of our own. And we all live scattered to the winds.
It's a tradition that he loves. Shopping for a perfect gift for his brother or sister has special meaning to him. He wants to hold onto it.
But time and "new" traditions are crowding in.
What is your dream of holiday about?
Feel free to read about it. Think about it. Comment on it. Talk about it at dinner.
If you feel so inclined, you can even submit a post for the series here.
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My BIG QUESTION series are about thinking and talking, especially about things we can take for granted.
Have an idea for a future BIG QUESTION? Let me know!
