Update #2 - Stitching - Traditions - Maps

Family traditions counter alienation and confusion. 

They help us define who we are; 

they provide something steady, reliable and safe in a confusing world.

Susan Lieberman

It looks like a map to us, a trail of sorts

 The invisible baste has been completed.  He still wants to cut out the white triangle, to make 'cat ears'.  I am unsure if he will add any more stitches to this cloth.  But, it has already worked a bit of magic as he wrapped it around the throbbing fingers
he accidentally closed in the bathroom door.  Ouch!
"It is really soft" he claims as he cradles his hurt hand in the other one.

My walking map

How many times makes a tradition?  Can it be just a couple of times if the memories are strong enough?  Can it be spread over years, sprinkled here and there?  Can a tradition pop up unexpectedly, sort of after the fact?  And then you say in surprise, "Oh ya, we have been doing that!"  Or you say,  "Well look at that, we all like doing this or that!"  Or maybe the tradition comes on slowly after you notice a comfortable sameness, a certain pattern.  Then you proclaim, "Let's keep doing this!  Let's make it our tradition!"
It seems my immediate family has some sort of connection to maps!

On the way to preschool - Map by my daughter, aged 3

I once wrote a question on the interactive white board in my classroom.  It was early fall and my question focused on Traditions.  
What traditions do you and your family share during the fall and winter seasons?
One mother claimed that her family had no specific traditions.  This led to a wonderful rich conversation defining what traditions may be and then expanding on that definition even more.  She came back to me months later and spoke of what her family does to celebrate the winter holidays.  She came back to me years later and mentioned that she still thought of our conversation.  I basked in our ongoing connection.  Posting that question each fall became a classroom tradition!

My son decorates with maps!

“Tradition is the handing down orally of stories, beliefs, and

customs from generation to generation.”

“Traditions can be adapted from familiar comfortable patterns. 

Traditions don’t have to be old.”

“Traditions provide stability and help us focus on what is important.”

-Origin Unknown, Shared by a dear friend

 What traditions do you share with family and friends?

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2011