The rituals we practise during the festive season can fuel our holiday spirit, writes Evelyn Lewin.
Ten years ago, newlyweds Carole Field and Pod O’Sullivan were about to embark on their first Christmas as a blended family with their five children, aged from five to 15. To kick-start the festive period, they decided to gather together in early December to decorate their two Christmas trees.
Enraptured, he whipped out the video camera. When they watched the recording later that night, they decided it was so funny that they should share it with their relatives in Ireland. The following Christmas, they re-enacted the whole thing. And voila, a family tradition was born. Pod is looking forward to 2021’s festivities even more than usual after a “particularly hard” year. This ritual, he says, will unite the family in such a beautiful way.
Clinical psychologist Kirstin Bouse from Perth Psychology Collective believes the term aptly describes the buzz people feel when they partake in a tradition. “If you’re having a lovely time and you’re among people who are also having a great time, it really amplifies everyone’s lovely time,” she says.
And you don’t need to be in people’s physical presence, either. Bouse says that if you’re physically separated from loved ones it’s still worth continuing traditions, even if you have to move them online. It won’t be the same, she concedes, “But I still believe the benefit of the ritual will outweighThat’s because they don’t just offer a zesty hit of feel-good hormones when you’re in the moment. Instead, Bouse explains that there’s a cumulative effect.
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