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An anthropologist explains why we love holiday rituals and traditions

The Art Of Giving

The gift-giving ritual is not to be taken lightly and is extremely crucial to maintain social ties and create reciprocal actions filled with love and respect.

Even if the gift choices are pre-planned, the ritual of exchanging gifts has tremendous value and significance.

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Here's why Christmas movies are so appealing this holiday season

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Holiday movies have been an essential part of the American winter celebrations. They offer a glimpse into how the world is could be, often in sharp contrast to reality.

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The Appeal Of Christmas Movies

Every year, at this time, there is a surge of rentals and viewerships in the movies related to the holidays, where Christmas stories and family bondings are lapped up by viewers wanting to glimpse ...

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.

Though watching Christmas movies during holiday season is a ‘ritual’, the movies themselves do not bend towards christaniity or God, but towards true love, the power of family, the meaning of home and relationships.

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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Why Do Children Get Presents on Christmas, Anyway?

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In 1800s New York, the overlapping interests of middle-class families and the wealthy produced a cultural practice that’s still in place today.

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Christmas Gifting To Children: The Tradition

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Every year, many families across the world celebrate Christmas and have a tradition of giving children with special Christmas gifts.

Critics have decried the commercialization of the Christ...

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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How to Simplify the Holidays : zen habits

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"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone." ― Henry David Thoreau, Walden Today, millions of people will be shopping, and the gift-shopping spree that is the holiday season will continue for a good month.

Key Ideas

Remember what’s essential about holidays

Do you care deeply about your religion? Do you care most about spending time with your loved ones? Maybe certain traditions matter tremendously to you. Maybe you love the feeling of giving (of which, ...

Start to let go of the non-essential

Talk to others about letting go of the traditions you don’t like. Yes, letting go can feel painful at times, but think of the downsides of the things you’re letting go. Think of the simplicity you’re creating. And feel the relief of relaxing around letting go.

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.