Family Traditions essay
As a rule, family traditions are important in the life of each family and each family member. The maintenance of family traditions and conveying family history from one member to another is exactly what makes the family the solid unit, whose members feel close relations and unity. In this regard, I can refer to the experience of my own family, which like any other family has its traditions and history, which shape views and values of each family member.
In fact, family traditions and cultural legacy affects consistently individual self identification. Each family member is vulnerable to the impact of family traditions and cultural legacy since the early days of his or her life (Walker, 181). People cannot live in isolation from their family. As a rule, they start their life in the family and grow up in the family environment. Naturally, in such a situation, they are vulnerable to the impact of family. More important, they learn key values from the family and steadily individuals adapt those values to the extent that those values become their individual values. Anyway, personal views of family members are affected consistently by family values and traditions.
In this regard, I can refer to the experience of my family and my personal experience. My family has its own traditions which we observe and which are extremely important for us. For instance, if a family member is in trouble, we always help each other. The entire family unites its efforts to help the family member in trouble. This mutual support is very important for our family members but we do not consider that mutual support as something unusual. In stark contrast, we take the mutual support of family members for granted. Even when we are apart and have not seen each other for years, we will definitely help each other just because we are the family.
We learn our family values and how they were shaped from the history of our family. The history of our family is shared between its members from the elder generation to the younger. For instance, I recall my grandfather telling me about his life and the life of his parents. His wartime stories were particularly interesting for me because he participated in World War II and that was really hard time for our family. Also I recall his stories about the Great Depression, when our family was on the edge of survival. Definitely, I would tell the history of my family to my children and grandchildren just like grandfather did. In such a way, the process of sharing history of our family occurs, as the history is conveyed from an elderly family member to a younger one.
Each family member learns to respect our family history since early childhood. We learn to respect values of our family and its traditions. In the course of education of each individual family member, he or she learns basic family values, while the family history helps him or her to understand how those traditions and values were shaped and why he or she should respect them. For instance, as I learned the history of my family life in the time of Great Depression, I accustomed to take financial difficulties easy as provisional problems because I am certain that my family will help me as well as I will help my family and altogether we will stumble through the hardest time.
However, the family history and values go far beyond the regular actions we perform or stories we tell each other or recall together (Meinke, 156). In fact, the family history and values are uniting factors that make our family members really close to each other. Our family history is our past and our values have been conveyed from parents to children, generation after generation.
In fact, our family history and values make us feel being members of our unique but small community. For instance, achievements of my ancestors make me proud that I am a member of my family and I want to make my children and grandchildren to be proud of me. The family history and traditions and family values help people to feel being members of the small community – their family. However, this community is probably the most important in their life.
The maintenance of our family traditions and values is very important for family members because it helps our family to survive in hardest times. People attempt to convey their family history and family traditions from one generation to another not just because they want to tell each other noteworthy stories (Fierstein, 195). Instead, they want to share common values and respect traditions, which were important for their ancestors.
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that family traditions, history and values are crucial for the formation of an individual cultural identity and personal values and views. The family is small but highly influential community, which people can never ignore.
