Self-made holidays

When I was young and holidays came around, I just assumed, things would happen. There'd be some sort of Christmas tree, the Easter bunny would come, there'd be fireworks on the 4th of July... I never really stopped to think that do-it-yourself kits weren't mailed out to all the families so that holidays would be celebrated. When I moved away, I found that holidays obviously take effort to celebrate. Things to plan, to cook, people to invite, things to make or buy.... Although these days you can walk into Wal-Mart and pretty much buy a self-made holiday kit equipped with everything one may need to celebrate a stereotypical holiday - is that really what these days are about? Do we celebrate out of tradition, self-importance or just to break up the monotony? A lot of the meaning and history behind the celebrations get lost in the shuffle - that's nothing new. People have been saying that ever since Santa Clause became part of corporate marketing schemes. Still....when or IF we celebrate, do you make it our own or do we just go through the motions? Is it really celebrating if you're just going through the motions? I'm not so sure.