Welcome to HuffPost Canada’s (almost) daily guide to helping you pick up an easy, everyday ritual that can make your life a bit better, in a small but significant way.
Canadians are stressed out, anxious, and are feeling disconnected from each other. Every Monday through Friday, we’ll share a tiny tip to help you feel good. We’ve got your back.
Today’s habit: Starting a new tradition.
For whenever you’re feeling: Looking to create meaning and connection with loved ones.
What it is: The holiday traditions we cherish are an incredible source of comfort. They can give us a sense of cultural pride, honour a legacy, and pass on what we love about our family ties. But when the festive season starts to feel like everybody’s just going through the motions, introducing a new tradition can remind your loved ones why they come together in the first place.
We love little habits, how about you? Story continues below slideshow.
Healthy Habits That Can Lead to Big Life Changes
How it can help:
Traditions draw people together for a reason. Chicago researchers found that people who celebrated family rituals during the holidays were happier than those who didn’t.
What’s more, the type of ritual didn’t have an effect on their happiness; families’ enjoyment of the season only rose with the number of rituals. So don’t worry about inventing the best tradition ever to blow your family’s minds. Your loved ones will enjoy whatever you do, as long as you do it together.
A new tradition can be helpful if you’re celebrating differently than past years because of a changed family structure. Having something new to be curious about can be helpful for those dealing with divorce, grief, or other circumstances.
Celebrating culture helps with self-esteem
Culture can be a big reason why one might start a new tradition. Whether you’re bringing a traditional holiday food to the table or introducing your kids to a tradition from your childhood, the holidays can become a time when the family can reflect on their roots and bring generations closer: children will have lots to learn about the tradition from their elders. You’ll be contributing to your kids’ good health, as an international study found that self-esteem is tied to feeling connected to cultural values.
A new tradition can replace one you don’t want to continue or can draw attention to a new part of the holiday you want to focus on. When it was my turn to say grace for Thanksgiving this year, I used that opportunity to acknowledge the history of the holiday and ongoing struggles Indigenous peoples on this land face.
For Halloween, my mom has started a tradition of reminding my sister and I of the departed who need to be remembered on All Souls Day, which has helped us learn more about those who came before us.
How to get started: A new tradition can take any scale and centre around any value you’d like. If you’d like to encourage creativity, try making ornaments and holiday decorations together. If generosity is what you want the season to be about, consider volunteering a new annual past-time the family can take part in.
Whatever your tradition is, make sure it’s something you’d be willing to repeat. It shouldn’t feel like a chore or a big production to put on: anything that takes too much work won’t stick when the holidays roll around again.
And there’s no need to get rid of the traditions that you still love. Putting up Christmas trees and drinking hot chocolate are holiday traditions people can’t get enough of.
How it makes us feel: There’s nothing like the familiar warmth of a tradition that’s made special by who we remember doing it with. What was once something we were curious to explore becomes a ritual we look forward to practicing this same time next year.
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And that’s your habit of the day.
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