A series of essays....
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| COMING HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS OFFERS THE EXPERIENCE AND FAMILIARITY OF FAMILY AND TRADITIONS |
....as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E Hughes
Familiarity is a spot where knowing someone, being friendly and sociable with them, means that everything is, actually, better than it was in the beginning of the relationship. Seeing these relationships as being multifaceted prepares us as we explore each aspect of someone’s life and personality and begin to blend a new acquaintance into a more familiar one. As relaxed friendliness blossoms between people, they become more comfortable with one another; a sense of informality and naturalness overcomes the initial feelings of restraint and reserve. Enjoying familiarity with a best friend means that we can say just about anything we want around them and enjoy a relaxed and unstressed relationship.
Upon giving birth, a new mother holds her newborn and examines each strand of hair, freckle, crease of their soft, precious skin, birthmarks, minute finger and toenails, all with the desire of becoming as familiar as possible with her beloved child. Reaching this sense of intimacy allows her to immediately bond with this beautiful and miraculous being she has already nurtured and loved for months. This is the beginning of a long, hopefully sweet, and often highly emotional relationship, based on familiarity and love, that continues to grow stronger with each passing day.
Going back after a period of time to your parents’ home is familiarity based on the recognizability of a long, close association; the quality of customariness and being well known. We, once again, enter the ordinariness of relaxed friendliness and intimacy between people. Our busy lives beg to be complimented by the ease of a close family relationship where familiar customs can determine the general flow of our comfort levels. Going home, especially during the holidays, allows us to scrap all of the rigid controls we’ve placed on ourselves and relax to the tune of family singing in the kitchen and siblings arguing over television programming rights! Norman Rockwell may have memorialized the family homecoming in picture form, but it’s up to all of us to keep family traditions and the joy of being together alive and well. This includes all nontraditional or unconventional family scenarios, as well.
A sense of familiarity hits us while becoming acclimated to certain landscapes, cities, roads, and areas after a period of time. Normally, humans adjust and adapt to their surroundings quickly and the sense of familiarity can be marked by various landmarks recognized along our journey as we navigate down a 'path' a second or third time. Initially, visiting Paris may be daunting, but after several trips there, one acquires a sense of familiarity as they feel more comfortable within the lights, landscape, action, and pulse of this beautiful city.
Familiarity is the state of knowing something very well. An actor has a familiarity with the stage or set. A painter has a familiarity with brushes and canvas. When there's familiarity with a certain job, we are not stressed because we've done it before.
Hugging someone displays familiarity and refers to a more casual way of acting towards one another with a certain intimacy that denotes a close friendship. We should strive each day to achieve this sense of naturalness and simplicity within our lives with absence of ceremony and a firm direction towards peace and understanding one another. Familiarity, our informal act of expression, is a liberty we should cherish and preserve forever.
Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved
Photo Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved
