As I continue my journey of conscious and sustainable living I find myself questioning norms and traditions more and more. I have always loved the holidays- the excitement, the surprises, everyone getting together and eating yummy food so it can be difficult to realize that behind most of it lies consumerism, waste, toxins, unhealthy habits, unhappy families, pressure around gifting and a whole lot of ickiness that I don’t want in my life. This Christmas will be our last without a baby so Luke and I have been brainstorming about what we want holidays and special events to look like in the coming years. 

Here’s what’s important to us:

• Gratitude
• Giving back 
• Love
• Creativity 
• Togetherness  
• Health 
• Sustainability & Zero Waste
• Toxin-Free Living 

I found it pretty easy to come up with that list but coming up with traditions is a bit harder. I’d love to hear any ideas or traditions that you have! 

Here’s what we have so far:

• Planting something (this could be in our own garden or somewhere else)
• Going for a walk/hike (a picnic could also be fun!)
• Making nourishing food together
• Reading a book to each other (this could be a December long tradition depending on the book) 
• Creating something (decorating old bottles, making ornaments, repurposing something, making DIY spa treatments, painting, collaging, writing,  etc)
• Setting a gift limit (price or number of gifts)
• Making gifts instead of buying them
• Thrifting/Buying second hand instead of new (and communicating to family that we’d appreciate this)
• Meditating/Yoga together 
• Setting time to write/share what we’re grateful for and how we want to grow

Though we aren’t religious, we certainly have spiritual beliefs and values. I want the holidays to be about reconnecting with our purpose, each other, the earth and the world around us. I think it’s important as soon to be parents to start looking at and discussing how we want to shape our children. The holidays, birthday’s and other celebrations happen every year so what they look like will definitely leave an impression on our little ones. We’re starting the conversation and asking questions like, “What gave us lasting joy about our traditions growing up?”, “What does Santa mean?”, and “What is the meaning behind the celebration, gift giving and holiday spirit?”

What are your favorite holiday traditions?