All About You FRIDAY – Embracing Tradition

As the holiday season approaches, my heart embraces traditions. I love hearing about celebrations and rituals people keep year after year. For many, traditions evoke memories, bring connection and create identity. They bring a sense of comfort especially in times of uncertainty or change. Often, remind us where we came from.

When I was growing up, we would always celebrate and open presents on Christmas Eve. That became tradition as when my parents were working, they both were paid double time to work the actual holiday. We had a large tree in our family room and as the holiday got closer, the tree would be bursting with more and more presents. That’s because it was never just our family celebrating. My parents would invite anyone they knew who didn’t have a celebration to attend. Single mom’s and their kids. Friends who became family and as people grew up, their significant others and their families were also invited. Nobody left empty-handed.

After eating a huge feast, we would prepare for the gifts. Someone would turn on some music and we would all form a line from the family room to the living room. Since 1994, the song played was All I Want For Christmas is You by Mariah Carey. Then we would begin passing the presents, one at a time from the tree to the other end of the house.

Can you picture it? All those little Asians, with the occasional Caucasian person who someone was dating or married to, all singing and laughing as we passed the presents along and the person at the end was responsible for sorting the gifts into piles. I’m sure our boyfriends thought we were crazy at first, but once they became a part of the tradition, nobody wanted to miss it.

As the year draws to a close, I eagerly anticipate a tradition of my own. The closing out of one Moleskine notebook and unwrapping a new one.

Every January 1, I unwrap a new Moleskine pocket notebook. And my first entry is always My New Years Evolution. A list of how I am different this Jan 1 than I was last Jan 1. This tradition has been going on since 2006, replacing the more common New Years Resolution list. I sit in a quiet room and think about the year gone by, the new things I learned and did. Some examples from this past January:

2. I’m writing this list with readers on

4. I framed and built a floating deck

25. I made a scented candle

38. I petted the head of an alligator in a New Orleans bayou

53. I sea kayaked off the coast of Split, Croatia

You get the idea. This tradition evokes memories of the year gone by as well as reminds me that I’m not in the same place as I was last year. Movement is good. It is a sign of life. And my Moleskine notebook chronicles that life.

I spend the rest of the year filling its pages with thoughts, descriptions of places I’ve been, ratings of movies I see. I’ll tape in movie stubs and put in stickers. I capture the year on the fly. I have a water tight box that holds 17 (soon to be 18) of these treasured books. One day, I’ll go back and leaf through them and be reminded of the path that brought me here.

As the year draws to a close, I want to thank you all for following along. If you’ve been reading, you’ve learned a lot of things and really stretched your mind to new ideas. I’ll be signing off for the rest of the year as we prepare for an exciting 2025 at the MoveWell Academy.

I pray that each of you finds blessings in the holiday season. That you hold your loved ones close and make beautiful memories. I hope you hold tight to the traditions that remind you of the path that brought you here. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the support you gave me this year. You are making the Evolution List.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Until next time…