Holidays and Memories

1.Many holidays are celebrated this time of year: Hannukkah in the Jewish tradition, Yule/Solstice in Neo-Pagan and ancient traditions, Christmas in Christian households, Bodhi Day in some Buddhist traditions... Have you ever celebrated with others in a tradition that is NOT your own? If so, tell us about it. If not, would you consider it, and which holiday would you choose as your first such experience?

~ 𝐀𝐍𝐃 / 𝐎𝐑 ~

2.If your family celebrated a holiday when you were a child, do you still have an ornament, decoration, or ritual item that was used when you were a child? If so, what is it and its significance to you?

                     👑👑👑👑👑

1.Holiday Tradition That Isn't Mine

I’ve honestly never celebrated any holiday outside my own tradition before, and sometimes I even laugh at how predictable my December usually is. Since I’m a Christian, Christmas has always been that one celebration everyone in my household automatically expects. But the funny thing is that, even though we celebrate it every year, we don’t really do anything dramatic or ritual-like. No special ceremonies, no serious symbolic practices… just vibes, food, music, and family moving around like it’s a mini-reunion. It’s fun, but not “extra.”

Still, I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to step out of my normal environment and join another tradition just to see things from a different angle. If I ever get the chance, I would totally love to experience Christmas the way Buddhists or people in countries like India celebrate their own seasonal traditions. I think it would be so cool to witness how they decorate, how they pray or meditate, the kind of foods they prepare, and the way they express joy.

The idea of seeing Christmas or another holiday through a completely different cultural lens actually sounds refreshing. I imagine bright colors everywhere, calm atmospheres during meditation, maybe some dances or festivals depending on the place. I’d probably be there observing everything with wide eyes like a curious tourist, trying to pick up at least one or two meaningful things from their practices. It would be fun to compare it with how casual and simple our own celebrations are at home.

Trying something new like that doesn’t only sound exciting but also like one of those core memories I would randomly remember years later and smile to myself.

                   🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

2.Childhood Holiday Item

Growing up, holiday celebrations in my family were honestly very simple, and sometimes I think that’s why they felt so normal to me. As I mentioned before, there was nothing extremely symbolic or dramatic about the way we celebrated. The main highlight was always the gathering of family members, some coming from far away, some we hadn’t seen in months, and that alone made the atmosphere feel warm, noisy, and full of gist. But in terms of ornaments or decorations or special items that held deep meaning, there was basically nothing like that in our house.

We didn’t have that one old ornament that gets hung every year, or a special decoration passed down from grandparents, or any ritual item that everyone treats with extra care. Decorations were mostly random things bought from stores when Christmas was close, and even those weren’t constant. Some years we used them, other years we didn’t bother. It all depended on everyone’s mood and the general energy at home.

Even though I don’t have a physical object tied to childhood celebrations, I feel like the significance for me was always in the people present. The noise, the games, the food shared, and that feeling of having everyone under one roof after a long time, that became the “holiday item” in its own way to me. Sometimes I think a decoration would have been cool to keep, like something I could look at now and say, “Oh, this has been with us since I was small.” But since we never had that, the memories themselves became the thing I carry around mentally.

It’s simple, but it still counts as part of what made my childhood holidays feel like holidays at least.