Customs and Traditions: Essay on Importance of Customs and Traditions

Meaning of Customs and Traditions

Customs and traditions are a shared way of carrying out activities. Since both terms are usually used in the same context, they are often used as synonyms. However, in a strict sense, the two terms are not the same. While a tradition is a behavior that is passed down within a group or
society complete with symbolic meaning with origins in the past, a custom is a belief or practice by one person or a group of people for a long time. It does not have to be something with a history of many generations. There can be company customs (institutional custom) that people practice or something the management tell workers to do.

Examples of traditions are holidays and impractical but socially significant clothes such as military officer’s official spurs and lawyers’ wigs. Examples of customs include ceremonies that include only specific people and which entail a collective action,

Importance of Customs and Traditions

1. By bringing families together and enabling community members to reconnect, they contribute a sense of belonging.
2. Traditions reinforce values like integrity, freedom and good education as well as the values of being selfless.
3. By including and explaining to children planning and doing the special activities, traditions give them a sense of pride.
4. Culture teaches community members to think for the entire community as opposed to thinking for personal benefit only.
5. They provide an avenue to acknowledge role models and celebrate things that have a huge significance in life.
6. Customs and traditions provide a chance to appreciate legends for their huge contributions in society.
7. Traditions provide an opportunity to explain to everyone why the community does things the way it does.
8. At a personal level, cultures are sources of delight and wonder thanks to the emotionally moving experiences.
9. They enable community members to pass down the principles and values of Founding fathers and foster unity.
10. They serve as avenues for creating and commemorating community events and milestones for families and friends.
11. Customs and traditions provide an opportunity to teach children the importance of preservation of natural resources.
12. They provide an avenue to express creativity, forge individual-identity and enhance community sense of place.
13. Customs and traditions provide an excellent context for community members to meaningfully pause and reflect.
14. Customs give security to young members of the society and provide a sense of routine and continuity.
15. Customs and traditions help us connect intimately with community laws, rules, principles, and policies.
16. Cultural practices are great opportunities for entertainment, leisure, learning and sharing experiences.
17. They promote healthy relationships between members of different generations especially when everyone participates.
18. Children tend to remember the captivating experiences much more than they remember gifts and toys.
19. From museums dance studios to theaters and public libraries, customs and traditions bring people together.
20. Traditions and cultures provide solutions to critical problems that community members are facing.

Conclusion

Role models, parents, and leaders should utilize every opportunity to reinforce community values and beliefs. Customs and traditions should in no way be taken for granted or else the beliefs will get diluted over time to an extent our way of life becomes foreign to us. They are like good health. While it is easy to take them for granted when you finally lose them that is when you
realize their worth.

By: Joni Kim