Family Culture and Traditions

Usually when I think of culture, I think of different countries and ethnic groups. In the dictionary, culture is defined as, the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group. Hey guys guess what! A family counts as a social group and each family has it’s own culture, yep it’s true.

I wasn’t really aware of family culture till I went into other homes and saw that some things are done a little differently in each family. I had several friends who are not touchy with their families and can count how many times they have hugged their parents and said I love you to them on one hand. This was very strange to me because in my family we are constantly hugging each other and saying I love you. I don’t remember a time when growing up when my parents didn’t hug me and say I love you at least once a day. Because of this tradition I have never questioned whether or not my parents and siblings loved me, which is something I know that I personally needed growing up. I am by no means saying that if you don’t do this you are failing as a family because I know plenty of amazing people with awesome families who don’t regularly do these things, they have other traditions and a culture that they have set up to bring their own families closer together.

Another part of my family culture besides hugging and saying I love you that I really want to perpetuate is laughing out loud. This is yet another aspect of my family culture that I didn’t know wasn’t universal. I would go to see movies with friends and I would be the only one in the group laughing out loud, it would sometimes make me feel very self conscious and give me the impression that no one else thought something was funny. I would then come to find out afterward that they also thought it was hilarious, but they just don’t laugh out loud. Some of my favorite memories with my family are those we spent sitting around the table together just talking and laughing, sometimes so hard faces would turn red and no sound would come out.

These few pieces of family culture are very important to me and I hope to be able to be able to carry them on in my own future family. Traditions and culture really make families unique, but not all traditions and cultural aspects are healthy. I’m not going to make a list of examples, but I will say I believe it is important to think about your own families and aspects of your own culture that could be keeping your family from really growing closer together. Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it should continue.

I am a religious individual and when I think of unhealthy traditions I immediately think of the Pharisees and the Sadducees during the time of Jesus Christ. Before the coming of Christ all they knew was the law of Moses. You could only walk a certain amount of steps on the sabbath and no working in any way shape or form on the Sabbath, even if it was to help your fellow man. This law was established at a time when such rules were needed because of the immaturity and wickedness of the people. When Christ came he brought the higher law, he showed them a new way of looking at things and serving our fellow man, yes even on the Sabbath. The Pharisees and Saducees couldn’t see past these traditions, it was what they had always done and they didn’t want to change even if it would bring them closer to God. It was an unhealthy tradition to keep perpetuating. This example is a little extreme, but it still helps us understand the concept of unhealthy traditions.

Take time this week and talk with your families. What are traditions and aspects of your family culture that you enjoy, and are grateful for? What are some traditions and aspects of culture that you can change? The family is the most fundamental and important unit of society, help each other build or change traditions that can strengthen and bring you closer to each other.