Tradition & Culture

What traditions are in your family? 

Where did those traditions come from?

Traditions are customs/beliefs that generally come from the generations before us.  However, when we have our own families, we can begin our own traditions. 

My family made it a tradition to have apple pancakes on special occasions. We put sour cream on pancakes swimming in apple cider syrup. Yes, it sounds weird with the sour cream, but they are scrumptiously divine! The time we eat these the most are when family comes home for Christmas. My sisters have taken this recipe and shared it with their friends and roommates from college. 

Our society loves the hussel and bussel that Christmas brings every year. In my family, my father started a tradition that before we can open presents, we line up on the stairs youngest to oldest. Traditions are included in culture. What are some traditions that your family does during Christmas?

We also try to plan camping trips as a family. It doesn't happen every year, but we have made it a tradition to camp for a couple of days as a family. Along with camping, the menfolk plan pack trips. It is a tradition that they take their fishing poles and fish in beautiful clear lakes in the mountains. My father always hangs up the American flag on hand sawed tent poles made from the trees. One way to change this tradition is to have the women folk invited on these pack trips; it would give us true wilderness survival skills.

These traditions we have developed have brought out the best in our family. I mean, who doesn't like apple pancakes? There could be a few traditions that could be done away with or improved, but when we get into our own families, we can change that. I have pondered about my family's culture and traditions, and thought of the different things I want to keep and change for my own family. 

The definition of culture is "a social domain that emphasizes the practices, and material expressions, which, over time, express the continuities and discontinuities of social meaning of a life held in common". Cultures help define who we are. Cultures can experience change fast over time, compared to tradition which usually doesn't change.

In my family culture, it is important to know how to cook, sew, can, and grow some of our own food. In today's world, some of these are a lost art. I think our ancestors were very wise, and they knew the value of these skills. In today's culture, everybody runs to the nearest drive-through when they are hungry. Their bodies pay the price, because their bodies are not exposed to the discipline to bend over and dig in the soil. Or stand over a pot and preserve what you have grown on a tree. Instead, our bodies are taking on a lot of impurities and are not fit. Hence, our bodies are not as healthy as our ancestors, because we live in a different culture of instant food, and entertainment instead of working hard in our families to make ends meet. In my own personal life, I value that I know how to pick up a needle and thread, or sit at a sewing machine, and make an article of clothing that is modest. Or darn a pair of socks so that I can make them last a little longer.

From my observations in class this week, I have appreciated my family life at home more. I am grateful for the values and beliefs that my parents taught me. I have brought those values and beliefs with me to college, and will teach them to my future family. Our family experiences could have been different if we had lived somewhere else, that had threats to our family and values.

So think of what you have learned in your culture. What do you want to keep, and what to you want to change or improve? Your posterity will appreciate the time you took to do this.