On the eve of the holidays, I felt like sharing a few thoughts on tradition.
Because this time of year is rich with everything that connects us to it.
There are gestures we no longer question. We repeat them, year after year, like a dance learned by heart.
And then there are the ones we add along the way. New, quiet gestures that slowly transform things. Every December, something repeats itself. And it is never quite the same.
Tradition is intentional repetition. It is the choice to return to something, not because it is efficient or fashionable, but because it matters. Traditions endure when meaning settles into what we agree to do again, and again.
They are quiet anchors. They give shape to time when everything feels in motion. In a world that changes quickly, rituals bring us back to something steady. A shared meal. A familiar gesture. A date circled each year without much thought. These moments may seem modest, but they carry memory, intention, and continuity. They remind us that meaning is not always found in grand events, but in what we choose to tend with care.
Traditions answer an ancient question: where do I belong? Whether inherited or newly created, they connect us to others and to ourselves, across time. They help us mark transitions, soften uncertainty, and give form to what cannot always be spoken. Even when people change or paths diverge, the essence of a tradition can remain, adapting without losing its emotional truth.
To stay alive, traditions must be allowed to breathe. They are not fixed scripts, but living practices that move with us. What matters is not perfection or performance, but presence. Lighting a candle. Gathering around a table. Honoring a moment. Through repetition and intention, these simple gestures become sacred.
Every tradition began with the choice to repeat the same small thing the following year.
May your holidays be filled with presence rather than pressure, and with love above all.
Jacinthe 🕯️
Founder & Creator, Noir Kāla
