How to Start a Tradition
A short, simple guide.
A funny thing happened here a couple of months ago: I went viral with the following post:
Now, I know those stats aren’t the gaudiest in the grand scheme of the internet, but for Substack those are positively Grink numbers. I was getting notifications about it for weeks, and I learned that a lot of you have very strong opinions on pocket-sized notebook brands. So, I figured I should talk about the post, how it came to be, and what it might have to say to us about the inception of traditions, as this, hopefully, is. I had to make some modifications to the original plan, which I’ll explain in a bit, but it is by and large just as described in the post.
As I have written before, one way to start a tradition is to steal it. You take a branch from someone else’s tree and graft it onto your own to strengthen your boughs. This is perfectly well and good so long as your desires are pure and you’re not diminishing or disparaging the source.
Another way to start a tradition is by accident. Last week, we had our orientation and back to school dinner, which my wife, in her infinite wisdom, bought a custom cake for that was supposed to say “Go Gryphons!” When we received it, we found that the confectioner had dispensed with line breaks and saw fit to inscribe “GOGRYPHONS” across its latitude instead. “Gogryphons.” What a fun thing to say! “Gog - rih - fonz.” A new pejorative/salutation/victory cry was instantly born. I have relentlessly annoyed everyone with it this week.
The final way to start a tradition is a little bit amorphous, but nevertheless foolproof: you simply submit to an authority in some way and… let things fall into place. Such was the case with the notebook above, which I will now explain.
My dad has a few pieces of advice that he repeats to us every so often. One piece which has stuck with me for years in a ‘you need to do something about that’ kind of way is that you should always have 3 or 4 of your favorite Psalms memorized so that you can say them to yourself in a moment of need or gratitude. If I am doing anything, I am forever walking around thinking “you don’t have any Psalms memorized” and worrying about it. I should note that this is not technically true. I know Psalms 1, 22, and 50 pretty well (Septuagint numbering), but I know those because we chant and sing them in church frequently, not because they are honestly my favorites. I’ve read through all the Psalms with two different classes now, but outside of a few turns of phrase here and there, particularly in Psalm 90, which is quite popular, I haven’t really settled on any favorite Psalms. It’s a scandal, I know.
So, bearing a desire to fulfill my father’s advice, I thought, “I should have a copy of the Psalms that I can carry with me. Something I can refer to at any moment and become familiar with over time.” This set off the kind of daisy chain that typically only follows giving a mouse a cookie. Thusly:
If you’re going to have a copy of the Psalms that you can carry with you, you should hand copy them yourself to help you remember the words.
If you’re going to copy them yourself, you should have a sturdy notebook that fits in any pocket.
If you have a sturdy notebook that you’ll be writing so much in, you should try and make it as beautiful as you can, so use this as an opportunity to practice your cursive.
If you’re practicing your cursive, you might as well be teaching your students to do the same thing.
If you’re going to teach your students to do the same thing, they should have their own sturdy notebooks in which to transcribe the Psalms.
If they’re going to have their own sturdy pocket-sized notebooks, you may as well do something to make them keepsakes since they’ll be spending so much time working on them, so emboss them with their poetic names and present them as a gift at graduation.
And so a new practice is born. After further thought, I decided that I should make things a bit rigorous and require the students to pass a formatting and neatness test before they receive their notebooks. After all, they will be copying Scripture, and so they should demonstrate an ability to do it cleanly and reverently first.
But the chain is, I hope, fairly clear. The installation of traditions and practices that make a school what it is are derived by imitation, happy accident, or submission to authority. What all of these vectors have in common is our attention. Without opening our eyes to the influences around us, we risk missing the opportunities to enrich our community with fastening customs. Such sight is a gift, and we but merely have to ask for it to be granted to us. So, good luck and have fun out there :)
It’s the end of the first week of the new year. Our lady’s Dormition is upon us. I pray that you all find peace and blessings in this time of renewal, and that God gives you sight for the traditions yet to be established. Meantime, I am working on several other pieces (including some fiction finally!) that will hopefully publish in the near future, but at the moment I cannot commit to a regular schedule because of all of my new responsibilities. Everything will work out in time, however. Many thanks for your patronage and patience. Joyous Feastday!
May our Lord illuminate the righteous path He has laid before each of us and compel us to walk it dutifully and with joy.