Tradition!

I'm hearing the music from Fiddler on the Roof --- "Tradition! ...... Tradition .....!"

-- as I begin typing this blog post.  I began a new "tradition" this year, with Tres C. Bass, shown above on Fresh Air Friday at one of our lovely state of Colorado parks.  Free admission -- you can't beat that!  As I was there, I thought about traditions.  

Whether you grew up in a Jewish household, a Christian household, or, like mine, a quasi-atheist one, this time of year likely brings back memories.  And it often has a lot to do with traditions.  

I came to appreciate the concept of traditions when I was about 40 years of age, and had attended the formative meetings of a group called "Soul Link".  Soul Link was lead by men and women who were bringing the community to meet with them after completing a class at the beautiful Catholic compound in Colorado Springs, where  people from a class taught by priest, Tom Sella -- soon to the be the author of The God Instinct, continued on, creating a ripple effect.  (I had lived in Colorado Springs from late 1999 through late 2003 when I uprooted and left for the Grand Valley of far western Colorado.) 

Many were expressing wanting to shed a lot of things about their Catholic religion as they moved forward in their spiritual endeavors, yet cherished some traditions, in many cases.  How to integrate traditions in creating a new group as they progressed and changed was their struggle. I even appreciate some traditions from Christian influences.

The first holiday season after Lumigrate.com was on the Internet, I connected with many on Facebook who were seeking information about "fibromyalgia", chronic pain, fatigue, etc., and one day while chatting in messages, a woman who knew a lot of people online and I were asking who we knew in common.  Then a message came saying, in a language I don't know, "Happy New Year", and I thought it was another name to compare with who I knew on Facebook.  So I replied "I don't know them."                   (As revealed initially on Facebook, September 16, 2012 "Dawlinks, sharing what I did with my nails for the holy days with you here. L'Shana Tovah!"

She humorously and gently let me know how far off base I was, and since she'd lived in New York and south Florida her whole life while I'd been in Colorado, I related how little exposure I've had to people who are Jewish. 

We hatched a plan, and for a long time she and her mother got together remotely and worked up pieces shared on Lumigrate.com by Yenta Tellabenta, also known as "Bubby" (grandmother).  It became a tradition to share "Bubby's Night Before Chanukah".  Here's the link: www.lumigrate.com/forum/bubbies-night-chanukah

I had a tradition with O'Rio Grande that started when I took him to get a photo with Santa the very first holiday season I was helping his then-owner by care-taking the property and care-giving him.  Below is the one I like the best, in part because it was the same guy being Santa as the previous, first year we went. 

Last year I'd get Tres on December 7th, but he hadn't been much on a leash, nor in stores, for at least 8 years. I came up with another plan of doing something at home, with a backdrop, and had recruited a helper for the picture taking, but it became a moot point when I realized I'd caught Covid-19.  (Earlier on the same day I brought him home).  This year I wanted to start a tradition, and one that could go on with Tres or without, as he is now 13 -- happy, but with significant pain being helped by particularly knowledgeable, progressive, veterinary professionals.  

The Colorado State Parks have, for two years now, done Fresh Air Friday, while the money-making retailers out there are doing "Black Friday".  I took Tres all the way out west to almost Utah, to Highline State Park.  We had a really lovely time --- if he is alive and well next year, I'll do the same, and if he's not, maybe I'll go and think about how I started a new "tradition" for my holiday season photo.                                                                                                                                                                                          

Many get depressed this time of year, and I'm no exception, though fortunately am not prone to it getting beyond tolerable.  It can have to do with a lot of things -- diet, sunshine, time in nature, and the subtle to profound grief that comes with changes in traditions, family relationships and who is alive and around or otherwise able to participate. Pets included!

My suggestion is to do NEW things along the way, and if you like them, make them a tradition, if even for a short time, like I did with the Santa and O'Rio photos every year at Chow Down of Grand Junction as long as he was alive.  

If you are feeling suicidal, please contact those who are set up to help, as soon as possible.  If you're feeling a bit blue beyond what's acceptable to you, consider finding someone to help, and definitely look WHY, and see what you might come up with.  Diet, exercise, sunlight, time spent in nature tend to change with Halloween, the early sunsets and time changes, then the extra food and goodies with the holidays.  

A simplistic statement is: grief subsides when wishing things had been different subsides, as well.  In my experience, sometimes that takes a long time --  to see how things happened as they did, and lead to the new experiences.  "It was for the best", or "it is as it is needed to be, now".  Spirituality comes into plan, and that can include how atheists process, as well.  And, often, hardships with challenges open people up to new growth on the spiritual aspect.  

I hope this has been a welcome and helpful read, if you found it.  I very much hope you took the link to read Bubbie's sharing of "The Night Before Chanukah." (link, above)  

Whether you're an atheist, Jewish, Christian, and so on, I hope you navigate the difficult-for-many weeks from late November through the year's end and have a happy time welcoming in the new year -- 2022 is right around the corner!  May Lumigrate continue to be a part of your life, and mine.

Gratefully ~ Mardy