Why do you celebrate Christmas?

Maybe you don’t celebrate Christmas per se. Think of another major holiday you celebrate with your family. Why do you celebrate it? With Christmas recently passing, this question came to my mind as I was considering what new traditions we might make as a family. My son turns two just 2 days after Christmas so he’s not quite at the point where he understands everything that’s going on, but I know he will next year and I want to have a clear answer to this question.

Christmas is largely recognized as a religious Christian holiday in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. But that is not why I personally celebrate the holiday and, upon further research, why so many other people do not as well. Christmas is becoming more and more of a familial cultural event for many; it is a time to slow down and spend quality time with loved ones.

With my son’s birthday being so close to Christmas, I’ve spent more time than I probably should thinking about how to make both days equally but independently special for him. Several ideas have come to mind and as I continue to explore each one, I found myself coming back to the core question, “Why do I personally celebrate Christmas?” I started celebrating the holiday because my family always celebrated with me as a kid. But now that I’m an adult and I am starting my own traditions with my family, I have found myself searching for a deeper meaning beyond just that.

I don’t have all of the answers yet, but I do know that I am open to challenging the status quo if it means creating new traditions that make sense to my family. To leave with you some food for thought, here are a couple of questions that have come to my mind on this subject: Why do we largely only open presents on one day? If you feel obligated to get someone a gift, is that meeting the true spirit of the holiday? How do you shift the focus of the holiday from less physical gifts to more experiences?

So now I’ll ask you again… Why do you celebrate Christmas?