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An anthropologist explains why we love holiday rituals and traditions
Why Holidays Feel Special
- Holidays are filled with family get-togethers, rituals and many things that make us smile.
- This period is bursting with sensory treats: great food, beautiful colors and lights, sounds of bells, crackers, or whistles, and the warmth of loved ones.
- Family rituals are valuable, offering a large number of psychological benefits, like reconnecting with our loved ones, and a break from routine.
- We let go of our anxiety and uncertainty and recite blessings, raise a glass of toast and perform increasingly meaningful rituals.
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The Appeal Of Christmas Movies
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Christmas Movies Are Beyond Religion
The fictional world that holiday movies bring to the viewers provides them solace, courage and reaffirmation to move past the obstacles in their real life.
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The Ideal World Of Movies And Music
Certain songs in holiday movies become etched in the consciousness of people, providing a glimpse of the ideal world which has no dark side, no war, no conflict, no poverty, and no evil.
The movies and the accompanying music create positive emotions, nostalgia and a feeling that all's right with the world, even though it is a constructed, alternative reality.
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Christmas Gifting To Children: The Tradition
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The Holidays Mean Gifts For Children
Donating gifts to poor children as Christmas charity started only after gift-giving to the children of one’s own family and friends became a common ritual.
Gifting in general is not according to ‘good behaviour’ and does not have an exclusive link to the Christian faith.
Christmas Gifting To Children: The Origin
Gift giving for children during Christmas started in New York City in the 1800s when the holiday was ‘reinvented’ as a family bonding time that integrated the various home decoration and shopping rituals.
When the city’s population grew ten times from 1800 to 1850, city planners and the elites feared that the street revelry done by ‘commoners’ would be a problem for them during the holidays, and started to focus the celebrations to be done at homes only.
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Key Ideas
Remember what’s essential about holidays
Start to let go of the non-essential
Let’s let go of the myth that you have to spend to give:
- Gift your family with some small experiences, such as caroling, baking, watching It’s a Wonderful Life;
- Volunteer as a family at a homeless shelter.
- Make meaningful gifts. A video of memories. A scrapbook.
- Bake gifts.
- Have an experience instead of giving material goods: do something fun together, go to the beach or a lake.
- Give the gift of your expertise. Are you good at fixing cars? Teaching music? Teaching cooking? Magic tricks? Help or teach someone something you’re good at.