A Journey Through Winter Traditions
Winter is a special time of year—a season where much of the world slows down, and we are invited to rest, reflect, and reconnect with what matters most as we prepare for the year ahead. The temperatures drop, the days grow shorter, and across the globe, people celebrate togetherness, self-care, and renewal. My hope is that as you explore these traditions, you will gain new perspectives and find ways to bring wellness and renewal into your new year.
Before we dive into these traditions, I want to remind you of the wealth of resources the South College Library offers to support your wellness journey all year round. Our Library Wellness Guide is full of helpful tools—e-books, research articles, and tips on mental, physical, and community wellness. It’s a great place to start if you’re looking to show up as the best version of yourself, both in school and in life.
You can check it out here: https://library.south.edu/wellness.
Our journey begins with the joy that comes from gathering together. On St. Lucia Day in Sweden the locals embody this idea with a festival of lights. In the cold, dark winter months, this celebration is used as a reminder of the light we can share with others through warmth and kindness. In the healthcare profession, guiding patients through their darkest days is a key part of your education, and St. Lucia’s Day teaches us the importance of shining light for those in need. For all South College students, whether in healthcare, business, technology, or the arts, this holiday reminds us that we can all bring warmth and hope to others through our unique skills and acts of kindness.
From Sweden, we travel all the way across the globe to India, where Diwali, another Festival of Lights, is celebrated. While Diwali takes place earlier in the year, its message resonates deeply with the themes of winter: the triumph of light over darkness and the importance of gathering with loved ones. It’s a time to spread positivity, reflect on the blessings in life, and extend kindness to others. These two festivals, though from different cultures, both emphasize the power of love and service to uplift ourselves and those around us (Lal, 2022).
Another beautiful celebration to consider is Kwanzaa, an African American holiday rooted in community and self-reflection. Kwanzaa is built around seven principles known as the Nguzo Saba; they include unity, self-determination, and collective work and responsibility. These values remind us that to move forward and thrive, we must nurture both ourselves and our communities. A major thread throughout the holiday is self-determination, which encourages us to define ourselves, create our own paths, and speak up for ourselves. As you move into the new year, embracing this principle can help guide you toward clarity and confidence in both your personal and professional growth (Karenga, 2020).
As the season progresses, many of the winter holidays shift their focus from community to self-reflection and renewal. This is a natural time to pause and take stock of where we are mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Of course, New Year’s is the most universal marker of this shift. We welcome January 1st with hope for new beginnings and a list of resolutions. It’s a moment to celebrate the successes of the past year and give time to mourn the challenges and losses. As the clock strikes midnight, we make promises to ourselves– resolutions to improve, be on time, be more honest, or more present. It’s powerful because it represents our commitment to reinvent ourselves and put that into action (Smith, 2021).
The Chinese New Year also centers on renewal, with a focus on family, fortune, and clearing out the old to make way for the new. It’s a time for cleaning homes, decluttering spaces, and preparing mentally for growth. It might also be the perfect time to clean out your school binders, organize your inboxes, clear out all those pens that have long since dried out of ink and settled into the bottom of your bags. Yes, all that needs to go along with any negativity lingering from the past year. The message is clear: to grow, we must make space for new opportunities and information (Wong, 2023).
Throughout all these celebrations, a common theme emerges: the balance between togetherness and solitude, between serving others and nurturing ourselves. For all South College students, whether in healthcare or other fields, this season reminds us of the importance of sharing light and compassion with those around us. From St. Lucia’s Day to New Year’s, and everything in between, winter invites us to reflect on what we bring to the world and the space we create within ourselves for renewal.
As we move through these colder months, we can carry these lessons with us into the new year—whether it’s refocusing on our goals, deepening connections with loved ones, or simply making time to rest and rejuvenate. Winter reminds us to pause, take stock, and prepare for what’s to come. It’s a season of transition, growth, and hope, and no matter where you are or how you celebrate, it offers us a chance to reset and move forward with intention.
References
History.com Editors. (2022, December 22). Kwanzaa. History.com. https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/kwanzaa-history
Harmon, A. (2024). Diwali. Salem Press Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from Diwali by Angela Harmon
South College Library. (2023). Wellness Guide. South College Library. Retrieved from https://library.south.edu/wellness
Mazzei, M. (2024). Chinese New Year. Salem Press Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from Chinese New Year by Michael Mazzei
It’s clear that the digital age is upon us, and information is moving faster than ever. Let’s take love letters and Valentine’s Day, for example. Although it is a holiday that lives in extremes (you either love to hate it or hate to love it) as soon as the Christmas decorations come down, stores are filled to the brim with pink hearts and chocolates for your love.
At its onset, the holiday we celebrate today may have been unrecognizable to many of us. The earliest versions of Valentine’s Day are believed to stem from a pagan holiday, Lupercalia, which celebrated fertility. Men and women were paired together when their names were drawn from a hat, and “valentines” were exchanged. (Hiru News, 2024).
Later, the holiday underwent a Christian makeover and was named for a Catholic priest whose deeds blur the line between fact and legend. Legend has it that when a Roman emperor outlawed marriage for young, able-bodied men, believing single soldiers served the empire better, St. Valentine secretly married lovers. He was eventually caught and executed, but not before penning a final love letter to his sweetheart, signed “Love, your Valentine.” (Salem Press, 2024).
From there, the holiday grew into a widely celebrated day of love and romance. People continued writing handwritten notes for their valentines until the invention of the printing press, which made mass production of such cards possible.
Fast forward to the late 20th century and the rise of the internet, and we see the emergence of email; a brand-new way to send a little e-honey. Declarations of love could now be shared not only with your valentines but also with 300 of your closest friends and family in the form of words, graphs, exploding GIFs, and much more. We no longer have to wait days or weeks to receive messages, and it is fascinating to think about how quickly the landscape of communication has changed.
At South College, we are committed to staying at the forefront of the digital age. All the resources and methods today’s students and leaders need can be found on our library website. Whether you are looking for inspiration from a 17th-century poet on the meaning of love or the latest research on stem cells, you will find it cataloged within our vast databases.
For example, I used our library database’s concept map tool to explore the history of Valentine’s Day. This is an excellent resource for beginning research on a topic. It generates a web of related topics that you can add to your search or expand into a new map with a different central focus. For visual learners, this tool is invaluable for connecting large concepts and data, enabling more holistic research. To access this map and other tools navigate to the library homepage, and under the search bar click “Advanced search”. You will find the concept map under “Research tools”.
So, this Valentine’s Day, while reflecting on how love letters have evolved over centuries, consider exploring the library’s resources. You might just find inspiration for your next declaration of love or your next big research project!
References
History of Valentine's Day, and why we celebrate. (2024, February 14). Hiru News.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A782381925/STND?u=southcollege&sid=ebsco&xid=bb08259e
St. Valentine’s Day. (2024). Salem Press Encyclopedia.
https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=566eccea-c07e-3b31-b370-cb0109e82176