I was blessed this weekend to have attended a family wedding, and it filled my heart with utter jubilee. I love weddings. I love the ceremonious celebration of love. I love the gathering of family and friends for a joyous occasion. I love the tradition. The groom waiting to see his bride. The ever so meaningful vows. The beauty of the shared first dance. The throwing of the bouquet. Maybe I'm just too much of a romantic, but I adore weddings and the meaningfulness behind all of the tradition.
I have always been a strong observer of tradition. Christmas Eve's spent in worship with my family, and then hurrying off to bed so Santa can gift me in my sleep. Independence Days on the bluff in my hometown overlooking the Tennessee River where fireworks are annually shot into the sky. Waffle House dates when my best friend from my junior year of high school comes home from school. Camp traditions. Family traditions. Religious traditions. traditions with my friends. Traditions with my boyfriend. I see them everywhere in my life, and I thrive on them.
As I sat, though, waiting for the wedding to start in the humid June heat, it struck me that many of my peers do not feel as I do about the traditions in which we have grown up and find ourselves surrounded by today.
Or so they claim.
The Millennial generation is known, in part, for turning away from tradition. Many would even say hating tradition. Turning away from the norm, breaking the bonds of expectation. I am not, mind you, saying this is a bad thing. I often find myself yearning to break free from the chains of "what has always been." Some traditions just aren't all that great. Personally, I'm not particularly a fan of the tradition of prejudice that I see far too often, and I am proud to say that this is a tradition out of which my generation is slowly breaking. What astounds me, though, is the tendency to want to break, not only from harmful traditions, but also from those that stand rooted in family, love, faith, and so many more positive branches of life for the sake of being "original."
The irony I find in this is that, as with every generation before us, Millennials still cling to tradition, but it is the tradition we create ourselves. We do not fear bondage from our own repetition. What is it about that of where we came that scares us so much?
People forget that tradition does not equate an inability for growth. Every year, I watch as my own traditions grow and adapt. I do not feel burdened by the traditions of my faith, my family, my friends from any stage of life, or those which I have created as I have become more of my own person. It is important to remember from where the traditions originally stemmed and not lose sight of all for which they stand. The memories built from within them. The joy wrought from them. They ways in which they have grown, and the ways in which they have stood firm, both equally as important. The traditions we are so eagerly trying to escape have played a major role in creating us, the people who are trying to escape them. Do not lose yourself and your roots in the quest to find yourself.
No one could have spoken it more eloquently than W. Somerset Maugham when he said:
"Tradition is a guide and not a jailer."
Do not let these traditions keep you locked in stagnant water. Instead, find ways to grow within them while cherishing all that they mean to you and for you. Tradition is not the opposite of change. They can happen within each other. Hold on to your heritage while building for yourself a new life with new adventures, which will, in turn, bring you new traditions.
