Baylor Expert Roundup: Making the Most of the Holidays

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The holiday season brings opportunities to reconnect, celebrate and create cherished memories with family and friends. From tips on fostering stress-free gatherings and embracing sustainability to preserving family history and discovering timeless holiday entertainment, experts at Baylor University provide insights to make the season meaningful and magical. 

Navigating Grief During the Holiday Season

The holiday season, while often a time of joy and celebration, can evoke complex emotions for those grieving a loss. Baylor professors Candi Cann, Ph.D., a death scholar and associate professor of religion in the Honors College, and Jo-Ann Tsang, Ph.D., a leading gratitude researcher and associate professor of psychology, offer four strategies for people experiencing difficult emotions and grief during the holidays. They emphasize that it is normal to experience simultaneous feelings of happiness and sorrow, and cultivating gratitude can coexist with acknowledging other emotions rather than suppressing them. This approach allows individuals to navigate grief during the holidays to maintain balance and authenticity.

“It’s possible and normal to feel different emotions at one time,” Tsang said. “You can feel happiness during the holidays, but also sad that you miss someone who you wish were present. Being grateful does not rule out feeling other emotions; we can cultivate gratitude, but that does not necessitate running away from other emotions.”

Stress-Free Holiday Gatherings Made Simple

Holiday gatherings can bring both joy and challenges, especially when navigating complex family dynamics. Anticipating potential hurdles, such as sensitive topics or interpersonal tensions, allows family members to approach these events with confidence and clarity. Allison M. Alford, Ph.D., clinical associate professor in the Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics at Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, shares practical tips to foster meaningful connections while preserving emotional well-being. 

Through practicing these strategies, family members can reduce tension, prioritize mental health and “you’ll be better equipped to approach holiday events with confidence and calm,” Alford said. 

Have Yourself a Sustainable Christmas: Five Tips for a Greener Holiday

Individuals and families can adopt sustainability practices during the holidays that are both meaningful and eco-friendly, reducing waste and supporting local communities. Baylor University’s Joshua King, Ph.D., professor of English and director of Environmental Humanities minor, and Gary Cocke, senior director of sustainability, offer tips to embrace sustainability during the holidays while reconnecting with simpler, more meaningful traditions.

“By integrating these practices, the holidays can become a season of gratitude, sustainability and meaningful connections,” Cocke said. 

Tales of Christmas Past: Preserving Your Family History During the Holidays

Family holiday gatherings often bring back memories of relatives sharing fascinating life stories, eyewitness accounts of historical events and the origins of cherished family traditions. Preserving these precious memories during the holidays can be a meaningful way to connect across generations. Baylor University oral historians Stephen Sloan, Ph.D., and Adrienne Cain Darough, M.L.S., have recorded and preserved the oral history memoirs of thousands of individuals through their work with Baylor’s renowned Institute for Oral History, recommend seven simple practices to help families document and preserve their oral histories. They emphasize that the holidays are a perfect time to gather stories, learn about family traditions and build lasting memories.

“Recording the stories of your people is a deeply meaningful gift to provide for all members of the family,” Sloan said. “They promote intergenerational learning and connection with a great present value that becomes priceless and increasingly beneficial in years to come.”

Christmas Magic on Screen: A Curated List of Must-Watch Holiday Classics

Christmas movies hold a special place in our hearts, blending nostalgia, joy and fun to capture the magic of the season. From timeless tales to unexpected favorites, James Kendrick, Ph.D., a film historian and professor of film and digital media at Baylor, shares his top five Christmas movies, each with a unique history and enduring appeal: It’s a Wonderful Life, Die Hard, A Christmas Story, A Charlie Brown Christmas and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Together, these films bring people together, filling homes with laughter, cheer and seasonal magic.

Trim the Clutter, Keep the Cheer

The holiday season brings warmth and joy, but it also can come with excess clutter, waste, and energy consumption, making it difficult to feel festive. Baylor human sciences and design professor Elise King, M.I.D., M.A., an expert in interior design and built environments, recommends simple ways to celebrate sustainably and resourcefully while maintaining the holiday spirit. She suggests reusing materials, switching to energy-efficient LED lights and eliminating clutter to create an eco-friendly, joyful atmosphere. With simple steps, families can embrace a sustainable holiday season filled with joy, mindfulness and fewer material concerns.

“The holidays can often feel busy and stressful, so it’s helpful to focus on traditions and decorations that bring joy and add meaning to the season,” King said. 

The Timelessness of Black Gospel Christmas Music

Black Gospel Christmas music, from traditional hymns like Go Tell It on the Mountain to the contemporary style of Kirk Franklin, conveys a profound sense of wonder and passion for the Christmas season and the birth of the Savior. 

Stephen M. Newby, D.M.A., professor of music and Ambassador for Baylor’s Black Gospel Music Preservation Program (BGMPP), and Emeritus Professor and BGMPP founder Robert F. Darden celebrate the unique history and emotional depth of Christmas spirituals through recordings like Black Nativity and Christmas Celebration. 

“Singing ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’ reflects the heart-language of the enslaved and invites us to join in solidarity with all creation as we live out God’s liberating kingdom here on earth,” Newby said.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY 

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.