PDF We’re not a particularly religious family. I’ve sort of constructed my own religion which is a little bit of Jesus and some angels, a pinch of nature, a splash of magic and the sacred feminine. Fold gently and sprinkle liberally with saints and souls. That’s about the extent of it. We don’t go to church, as I haven’t found one that I could really deal with. I have nothing against church, we just haven’t found our fit yet. That being said, I love ritual and ceremony and I try to work a little bit into each and every day. From lighting candles, to family dinners together, I believe that there is the opportunity for ceremony everywhere and I do my best to honor the sacred in my own life while teaching my children to do the same.
I think most people do this whether they realize it or not. If you go around the table before Thanksgiving dinner and everyone states what they’re most thankful for? There’s your Thanksgiving ritual. If you toast to health and wealth on New Year’s Eve? There’s your New Year’s ritual. What I’m asking you to do, is take notice of the rituals you already perform and add more of them. Much more of them.
Recently I’ve started getting up in the morning and after brushing my teeth, I get a cup of coffee, sit down and write three long hand pages in my journal a la Julia Cameron. I used to do this years ago, but somehow stopped along the way. It centers me and helps me to focus on what I want to accomplish each day. But more than that, it is my morning ritual. By honoring that and making sure that I do this on most mornings, I’m setting my intention to let the universe (and myself) know that writing is important to me.
I decided that in the new year, the children and I will take the dogs for a nice long walk every morning, weather permitting. This is a very out of the ordinary thing for me to do – I’m much happier inside chasing mental pursuits – but I’ve decided that it’s important for me to move more, to exercise more and that I can accomplish even more good, by involving my children. They can see how important movement is for your body and it will also give us a chance to connect each morning without an agenda. I spend an inordinate amount of time with my children, due to our homeschooling, but most of it has an agenda; math, writing, science, social studies, etc. This morning walk will give us a chance to just be with one another. I think it’s a good idea, in theory…I’ll keep you posted.
And that’s another thing, if a ritual that you think is a great idea, stops speaking to you, change it! That’s the beauty of this whole “each morning is a new day” thing. We have the opportunity to make decisions to change our lives each and every day. If I decide that the walking thing isn’t for us, I’m free to find a new ritual.
So in 2009, if I may be so bold as to offer you a suggestion, notice your rituals, honor them and add some more. They don’t all have to be in pursuit of a higher consciousness… as a matter of fact, one of my favorite rituals is something that I do with a couple of my closest friends. Everytime we see one another, we drink a shot of tequila. Sprinkling the salt on our thumbs, clicking our glasses together, licking the salt off, tossing the amber liquid into the back of our throats, allowing ourselves to enjoy the burn of the tequila then biting immediately into a crisp, tart lemon wedge. That’s a ritual I can get behind. It’s probably a good thing I only see these friends once every couple of years though, right?
So what will you do, in your life to create more ritual and honor the sacred space in your life? I’d love to know, as I’m always looking for new ideas!
More links:
Creating Ritual from the Daily Om
Enriching your Life by Creating Rituals and Celebrations
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walking the dog is one of our rituals as well – one “patrol” in the morning, and one in the evening. Gets some of his excess energy out, and it’s a good time for us to just walk and talk – no TV, no distractions. I like your “writing in my journal each morning” ritual, and may have to steal it from you
MsMeggies last blog post..A Survey About 2008 – stolen!
This is a fantastic post! I agree with it whole heartedly. I have a few rituals, some of which come from some not so good memories. Like the year I was in the hospital from Thanksgiving day until a day before Xmas… the kids wanted to decorate the tree that we had started putting up Thanksgiving day, but they couldn’t get the decorations out of the attic, so they decorated the entire tree with kitchen gadgets, pot holders and towels. Sad, I know. Anyway, now we set up our regular tree every year but the little tree gets decorated with the kitchen stuff as a reminder to be thankful that we’re all together.
Kristis last blog post..::::sigh::::