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This is NPR's Life Kit.

I'm Mary El Segara.

Every Christmas Eve, we go over to my aunt and uncle's house.

And there's always the same lineup of people and the same lineup of food.

Bernille, Arroz con Gandules, Encoquito, which is basically Puerto Rican eggnog.

I always look forward to it because my Thea makes amazing food because I get to see my cousins and their kids.

And because it's this steady thing, you know, I can expect it every year.

It's tradition.

And traditions can be one of the most beautiful things in our lives.

They can make us feel like we belong.

There's really a sense of almost an existential sense of connectivity to something greater than ourselves.

I think when traditions are perpetuated, that's Andrea Banya, a psychologist at Georgetown.

She has a podcast called Baggage Check, Mental Health Talk and Advice.

Andrea has lots of traditions.

Like when she and her husband first started dating, they bought a Christmas ornament together.

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