| Happy weekend, everyeone. I wanted to acknowledge that comforting, soothing, centering “other” element that keeps us returning to the same holiday practices every year (getting a tree on a particular day, preparing a specific meal, baking an old family recipe, attending a particular service or festival, watching a certain old movie). For most of us, our holiday rituals offer tremendous meaning – for us individually and for our families and social circles. Holidays, we think, give us the opportunity to feed parts of ourselves that tend to get short shrift in this fast-paced modern society – our social health, our spiritual well-being. Traditions hold a lot of power. Anthropologists and cultural historians are in pretty good agreement that common community practices and celebrations went a long way to solidifying families, tribes, and eventually larger societies. Communal tradition helped reinforce members’ commitment to the group and encouraged the survival-enhancing instincts toward alliance-building. In more modern times, experts say, celebratory customs preserve elements of family and community strained by other societal developments— long work hours, farther distances between family members. Even the act of remembering the traditions and meaningful times we’ve spent with our loved ones, research suggests, can boost our mental health. In a study examining the therapeutic elements of nostalgia, researchers found that wistful reminiscence “increases self-esteem and fosters social connectedness.” It can also, the researchers comment, “give us a greater sense of continuity and meaning to our lives” by encouraging a “positive view” of the past and an emotional coherence between our past and present life. The great thing about the power of tradition is that it doesn’t take much: a taste, a whiff, a glimpse, a touch, a day. Long after the leftovers have been eaten, the holidays can leave us satiated in more significant, lingering ways – refreshed by respite, revived by togetherness and gratitude, re-centered by meaningful custom. Come January, we’re ready to get back in the saddle and meet our mundane, “everyday” lives with a renewed vigor and sense of purpose. In the meantime, enjoy yourselves over these holidays! | 