Originally written on Christmas Day, 2024 <3
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Traditions are curious. And I'm not really talking about the big traditions, of pageantry and national celebrations and, yes, even Christmas - no, I'm talking about personal traditions. Little habits we each get into.
You know, I've never bought myself a chocolate advent calendar? I grew up Christian, and we always had an advent calendar - but each little door had some part of the nativity. Or one year, we had one where it was a blank stable scene, and each day had you peeling off a sticker to fill it out, in what I still consider to be a legitimately awesome idea. Anyway, these felt right to me. The correct way to do Christmas. A chocolate advent calendar was a cheapening of the celebration.
And I continued to think this, even when I left the faith. That was over a decade ago, too; for over a decade I thought that chocolate advent calendars weren't right. So I never got one, or any advent calendar.
And then, this year, while wandering through a frigid November evening and chatting with my partner, I suddenly realised something.
That's absurd.
Why on earth would I still think this? What's wrong with chocolate advent calendars? I eagerly buy into the present-giving and the chocolate coins in stockings and the big Christmas feast and all other pagan and commercial trimmings of this glorified Saturnalia, but apparently slightly-overpriced bits of chocolate are too much?
So I bought one. A nice one, with little bits of liqueur inside. And it was nice, something to look forward to each day. And some part of me still thinks it's a bit not right, but you know what? I'm learning that not every one of my personal little traditions is a good thing. I can let things go. I can embrace the new, and let go of the old...
Which brings me to what this is all leading to.
For the past fifteen years, I've been making a Christmas Picture every year, without fail. Some have been a bit more hasty than others, and have varied in style, but I've always managed to do them.
And yet... these pictures take a long time. They take a lot out of me. And after fifteen years, ideas for how to make each one new and exciting are running out, and I'm feeling them a bit thin.
So, perhaps this is one tradition I should... well, not drop. But modify. I still want to do something for Christmas, but I want to do something that doesn't use the same idea and take so much of my year. Maybe each year, I'll just add on to this year's picture, making a group mural that I continually add to. Maybe I'll do something else, something that's more fun, more vibrant, that still lets me thank all the people that have made this year special. I don't know! But we'll find out together.
The way to start a new tradition is to do it for the first time, after all~
Merry Christmas <3
Keywords
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1 week, 5 days ago
26 Oct 2026 18:34 CET
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