Tradition

Passed down over generations
Started by one
It’s what has always been done //

Don’t disobey elders,
They know better,
Why can’t a child know more?

College is an institution
that grooms your career
Why can’t I, the world, explore?

Marriage is a scared bond
Between a man and a woman
Why? Does love look at gender before?

And Motherhood
It’s said to be woman’s purpose
But what if I want more?

These are just some of the thoughts that race through my mind as I think of traditions
And then some more…

My grandmother’s Christmas cake
Does that make me a Christian any more?
Our elders feet we touch for blessings sake
Does that me an Indian any more?
My annual Kite Runner reading that I can’t forsake
Does that me literary any more?
That picture of the horizon every morning I take
Does that make me creative any more?
This relationship with my words that I make
Does that make me a writer any more?
The wedding norms and culture in which I can’t partake
Does that me abnormal more so?
These traditions that set us into autopilot I wish to break
Does that make me human, or no?

For better or for worse traditions are a framework of constructs,
some personal some societal.
They give us a sense of familiarity, of belonging, of comfort.
And for all of those things we embrace them and follow on.

But the conformity of it all is where I begin to think –
Do we even ask why or just follow without a blink?
How do we differentiate between traditions just and unjust,
If we lack the curiosity to simply ask why it is a must,
Not all traditions make sense, not all need to follow through,
If we each embrace those that share the values of our truths
I may not celebrate Christmas, but I’ll always miss my grandma’s cake
And I’ll always support all love, even if I don’t believe in marriage
Traditions are meant to bring us closer, together not tear us apart
If we all resolve to care for each other, a new tradition we can start
One that feels familiar and comforting and universal above all
A tradition that is born in the reason, that is a true inner call
Acceptance of everyone
And that’s how it should be done!