Jane Witherspoon is a Canadian expat adventurer, yoga instructor and passionate rambler who recently relocated from Panama to Denia, Spain.
As many of you prepare to celebrate the season with family and friends, I want to hear how have your traditions have changed as you move through mid-life and beyond.
I am not just talking about Christmas. Many nations and cultures don't celebrate Christmas, and many faiths besides Christianity have December celebrations. For instance, Hindus in India celebrate a five-day holiday called Pancha Ganapati in December, and Jews celebrate Hanukkah.
These, and other celebrations that occur throughout the year, also have gatherings of family and friends and long-practiced traditions.
In mid-life and beyond our traditions often change as children grow up, move out, build a life of their own, and create their own traditions. When my children were young, our home was the hub of seasonal family celebrations. Also, my middle daughter was born on December 24th, so we usually had a packed house for three full days.
Our tradition was to set up the tree two weeks prior to Christmas Day. After a family dinner, we'd haul out boxes of decorations and spend the evening decorating the house. My three daughters each had cherished decorations they loved finding and hanging on the tree. As the years progressed, we accumulated more decorations, and the tradition grew.
On the 24th we embraced birthday celebrations, and Christmas was momentarily forgotten. Family and friends came to party and, usually stayed late into the evening. At some point, I would slip off and finish wrapping presents.
Most years, I also hosted our family Christmas dinner, so I would start early on the 25th, prepping a feast for up to twenty people.
On Christmas morning, once everyone was awake, we'd share a family breakfast and then open gifts. We'd spend the day, catching up with each other and those we hadn't seen in a while. On the 26th (a day Canadians call Boxing Day), we would relax with our immediate family, enjoy each other's company, eat leftovers, play games, and watch movies.
Once all my girls were grown and moved out, my current husband and I decided to try living life as expats. We've been away from our home country of Canada for nine years now, first living in Panama and then more recently relocating to Spain.
This time of year can be extra challenging; I miss my family and the traditions that we created. Now that I don't have family living nearby, we don't celebrate Christmas.
For me, spending time with family created magic and meaning. The commercialization of the season was a long-standing struggle for me, so now, without family surrounding me and not being religious, I find no need to celebrate.
I do enjoy going out and seeing the lights strung up on the streets here in my home of Denia, Spain, and going to the outdoor evening events. Still, we have no tree, decorations, or special dinners.
But my family has created a new tradition with just as much meaning. I travel to Vancouver Island, Canada every August and spend a month with my oldest daughter and her three sons. I also visit with my youngest daughter, who lives nearby, and this year was extra great because my middle daughter flew in from Majorca to be with us.
Today, our summer visits are the time when we create family memories. We share warm sunny days swimming, hiking, going on road trips, and having adventures with my grandsons.
I adore the long days with my daughters catching up on life, heading into the garden to pick fresh vegetables for our dinner, swimming in the family pond, and nights spent around a campfire. So, mid-life has changed my traditions, but who says the changes can't be for the better.
So as you ramble through this holiday season, whether you celebrate the season or not, whether it is summer or winter in your part of the world, I am thinking of all of you and sending you love and light.
All families are different and unique, but they all have one thing in common - shared LOVE - Unknown.
Traditions touch us.
They connect us.
And the expand us - Unknown.
READ MORE > Jane's Mindful Musings, The Rambler Cafe Blog
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