Choices,
Cust oms or
Confor mit y
By
Law yer of
At t r act ion,
Paula Kidd
Casey
As we head into the new year, I
am pondering a thought about
the difference between
traditions and complacency. I
love traditions; they make you
feel connected to the past, they
are comfortable and comforting
and they are familiar. A simple action (making cookies, wrapping presents and watching Christmas
movies) evokes emotions that span decades. Traditions are the glue that binds generations, family, friends
and memories together. But I realized last year that they can also allow us to become catatonic and blind
to other possibilities that are also magical.
Christmas Eve day is my favorite day of the year, more so than the actual day of Christmas. There is
anticipation and excitement and magic in the air. We would always cook and wrap and watch movies and
sing, preparing for the evening and the next day. It was the preparing and the expectation that brought
the most joy.
However, last Christmas Eve I didn?t repeat the same activities that I had done for the last 64 Christmas
Eves. We drove two and one-half hours to my daughter?s house for Christmas with her family (and my two
grandchildren, ages 3 and 6). I wanted to be with them more than with my ?traditions?.
I live in Kansas and the drive is rather routine, boring and mundane (cold, drab and FLAT). I also yearn for
Page 28