(no subject)

[serene]

In her journal, pegkerr talked about May baskets. Now, I've never heard of May baskets before, and I find the idea so charming and wonderful that I'm going to do them next year.

Which traditional things make you happy? Which traditions do you keep over from your childhood and still get joy from them? Which traditions made no sense to you, so you jettisoned them? Which new traditions did you adopt from someone/somewhere else and make your own? Which did you invent from whole cloth?

(If it makes it easier, you can use this form to answer. I'd love to see everyone's responses, if ya feel like it.)

Traditional things that make me happy:
Childhood traditions I've kept:
Childhood traditions I've tossed:
New traditions I adopted:
New traditions I made up:

Comments

[artemii.livejournal.com]

i don't do it every year, but my favorite tradition from my very early life as a methodist (till i was about 7) is the advent wreath (http://www.cresourcei.org/cyadvent.html). (they were generally more popular in european churches than american ones, though they seem to have become somewhat popular amongst american christians within the last decade or two.)

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Cool!

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

I don't have many traditions (or they're out of my head right now), but I'm going to try to answer this.

Traditional things that make me happy: I give my mother a gift on Father's Day, because she raised me mostly by herself. The Munchkins always give me the Tootsie Rolls out of their Halloween bags.

Childhood traditions I've kept: Certain party foods. Well, foods in general. My mom's chicken livers, things like that. I can't think of anything else right now.

Childhood traditions I've tossed: Opening presents at midnight on Christmas Eve.

New traditions I adopted: Well, the May Basket thing, for one. Orphan holidays. (Which I suppose is just a variation of my mother's tradition of always inviting others to spend mealtime with us, especially at the holidays.)

New traditions I made up: Hmm, dunno. someotherguy and I always kiss if we split a light pole, and it's traditional for me and stonebender to go to East Village Seafood when I spend the weekend. ;-)

[bayarts.livejournal.com]

We do "Buddha Bunny" eggs.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

*chuckle*

[brotherelf.livejournal.com]

I'm not calm enough to come up with answers for the others right now.

New traditions I made up:
I burn my old calendars on New Year's Eve. (Exempt from this are the ones that are actually on computers.)

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

New traditions I've adopted: "Ladies and gentlemen, here's to the New Year, and may it be a damn sight better than the last", stolen from my friend Steve Arthur and used for the last 15+ years.

[mac-arthur-park.livejournal.com]

Traditional things that make me happy: Family (chosen or othewise) portraits. Christmas carols in Latin.

Childhood traditions I've kept: Small gifts for the sibling who isn't having a birthday. Moveable birthdays. Moveable holidays.

Childhood traditions I've tossed: Guilt.

New traditions I adopted:

New traditions I made up: Lemon-based desserts for Beltane.

[lyrical1.livejournal.com]

Small gifts for the sibling who isn't having a birthday.
My mom used to do this for us. Although I don't have kids, when I go to kids bday parties for my friends that have them, I always bring a prezzie for the other siblings

Lemon-based desserts for Beltane
mmmMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm. Lemon.

[lyrical1.livejournal.com]

Traditional things that make me happy:
-High Masses (Christmas and Easter), don't ask me why.
-Thanksgiving.

Childhood traditions I've kept:
Putting up the Christmas tree on Christmas eve. (When we were kids, we used to put up the tree after mass. When we woke up in the morning "Santa" had decorated the tree.)

Childhood traditions I've tossed:
Church every week

New traditions I adopted:
Friend/Chosen Family Christmas and Thankgiving.
Fabulous NYE Bashes

New traditions I made up:
-I always give my mom flowers on my birthday. Every year since I was about 17 I've done this, and it still makes her cry. She does it for her mom too, but I didn't realize it until I started doing it. Its a good thing.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Traditional things that make me happy: All holidays. I celebrate them whether I "believe" in them or not. Any excuse for a party (or chocolate, or a special meal) is OK by me.
Childhood traditions I've kept: Sushi for Christmas Eve dinner. (Mine was an ... odd ... family). Opening presents on Christmas Eve.
Childhood traditions I've tossed: We didn't have many traditions, so I can't say I've tossed them as much as forgotten them.
New traditions I adopted: Full moon observances, even if they're as slight as changing the flowers on my altar and going outside to see if the moon is out. Increasingly, cross-quarter rituals, and especially seasonal meals. Planting the garden according to the phases of the moon (my sister, the horticulturist, swears by it so it's good enough for me...)
New traditions I made up: Bunches of them with my theater gang. The Orphans' Thanksgiving. New Year's Eve slumber parties. The spring get-away to the coast with the theater babes (in its 11th year). The big damned Halloween Costume party, with the inevitable Valuable Prizes. The white elephant wintergift exchange.

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

I yearn for harmless traditions, but we're no good at them :-(