When doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same result is insanity, does that mean clinging to our old habits is the sanest thing we can do?
In my house, we kick off the Christmas season between clearing the turkey off the table and the dessert course. We play the entirety of A Charlie Brown Christmas on whatever format is most readily available while playing cards or Apples to Apples or Scabble. The most important thing to note is that during Linus and Lucy all members of my small family get up and dance—specifically we do our best impression of the Charlie Brown dance party for a solid minute+ of the song.
Once we’ve sat down and returned to our game, it’s officially Christmas time! Decorations start going up, carols start getting hummed, and at some point, the following day I seek out this video:
I cannot explain, other than it makes me happy and I do it every year. That’s all we seem to ask from tradition. Some are maintained to connect us to our past; some are maintained because we don’t believe the future will be that good again and maintained because of the feeling we get doing the same thing at the same time every year. A little frisson of delight from magic we make our own clumsy hands.
Nostalgia, like most things, is lovely in small doses—but dangerous when we let it overwhelm our common sense. That’s why my most treasured holiday traditions are about action and connection—not aesthetics. Because things don’t have to look right to feel right. And that’s from 42-year-old lady who flings her arms around to “Linus and Lucy” every year.
#christmas #traditions #charliebrown
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