Loving Holiday Rituals Is Important!

The sudden thought of holiday traditions brings smiles to everyone's faces and develops feelings of joyful expectations and happiness. We can almost imagine those candles, taste those special meals, and hear those familiar songs in our minds. Ritual reflect some of the most important moments in our lives, from personal functions like birthdays and weddings to seasonal celebrations like Thanks giving and religious holidays like Christmas . And many more important moments, the fancier are rituals.
Holiday rituals are exciting and joyful. These bells signal to all of our senses that this is no common occasion. It is the one full of significance and meaning. Such sensory exuberance helps creating everlasting memories of those occasions and marks them in our memory as special events of life. There are plenty of reasons to value family rituals. Research shows that they also provide several psychological benefits, helping us enjoy ourselves, connect with loved ones and take a break from the daily grind.
Everyday life is stressful and full of tensions. Having a special time of the year when we know exactly what to do, the way we've always done it, provides a comfortable sense of structure, and stability to mind. From reciting blessings to raise a glass to make a toast, holiday traditions are stuffed with rituals. Laboratory experiments and experiential learning shows that the crowded and planned actions involved in such rituals can act as a blessing. Many of those rituals may of course also be performed at other times throughout the year. But during the holiday season, they become more worth. They're held in a special place with a special group of people. For this reason, more people travel during year-end compared to any other time of the year. Gathering together from far locations helps people leave their worries and tensions behind, and at the same time makes people reconnect with time-honored family traditions and rituals.
No holiday tradition would be complete without a special festive meal. Since the first humans gathered around the fire to roast their hunt, food has become one of the activities to define our happiness. The long hours spent in the kitchen and the dining room during the preparation and consumption of holiday meals proved to be much entertaining as they brings the entire family together around the table and smooths the way for conversation and connection with everyone. It is important to exchange gifts during the holiday period. This might seem pointless, from a rational point of view but is the best recycling resources or, at worst, wasting them. But don't underestimate the importance of these exchanges. Anthropologists have noted that among many societies ritualized gift-giving plays an important role in maintaining social ties by creating networks of reciprocal relationships.

By: Saksham Gupta
Content: https://www.livescience.com/61276-an-anthropologist-explains-why-we-love-holiday-rituals-and-traditions.html