Pomp and Circumstance are good.
I don’t mean the Elgar, though that is pretty nice. It’s one of those magical pieces that carry so much weight in terms of setting a scene.
I mean, the ceremonial celebration of milestones is worthwhile. It’s great to blow out candles, to wear a gown in a graduation ceremony, to have a first dance and kiss when the glasses clink.
But sometimes, the weight of all the ceremonies obscures the point. It becomes less about imbuing the milestone with significance, and more about playing the role that others expect you to play on that day.
In that case, pomp has become a rut. When a ceremony is filled with things that can be described with “we do them this way because we do them this way” then no one can be expected to have their heart lift with the moment, which is why we invented the ceremony in the first place.
Traditions can be hard to change. But if they’ve become a rut rather than a heart lift, then it’s time to start thinking about how to change them.