Most people would agree that Christmas and New Year celebrations should be about bonding with loved ones. And to varying success, we all have different routines and traditions that go about attempting to accomplish this.

For some, the festive season may have more of a religious connotation attached, but for the majority, it largely seems to be about indulging in generous servings of festive food and drink. And of course, there’s the giving of gifts.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with any of this, but do you feel your end of year celebrations are in a rut? Are they just more of the same old surface level conversations that revolve around copious levels of consumption? Or, do you have a tradition that creates memorable moments of bonding each year that strengthen and deepen your relationships?

For so many of us the festive season is almost purely about presents and food, with each year essentially blurring into the next. Are your Xmas memories more about having a full belly rather than a moment of deep significance shared with a loved one?

If you’re reading this and are starting to feel like there may be an opportunity to enhance what happens this year, then read on!

We’d love to encourage you to carry the torch to bring something deeper to your communal gathering this year by trying the below:

  1. Pick a point throughout a meal where everyone is gathered, and announce that you’d like to do an activity in the aim to bring more meaning to the festive season.
  2. Ask each person to share 3 things about themselves:
    • Their greatest low in the year past
    • Their greatest high in the year past
    • Something they’d like to accomplish in the year to come. This can be anything meaningful to them whether that be health, fitness, career, relationship, personal development, etc.

By the way, we highly recommend you go first to demonstrate what this can look like.

Simple isn’t it.

Now depending on your family dynamic this may be well received, or it may be quite confronting. If someone’s struggling or uncomfortable just let them know it’s okay to skip.

Overall, from our experience, openly sharing these sorts of insights in a supportive environment creates new layers of depth, understanding of each other, and fosters stronger relationships and a tighter community overall.

Isn’t THAT what this time of year is all about?

Who knows, this may even become your new family tradition.