What are your rituals?
You can think about religious ones, sure: Going to church, taking the Eucharist, morning and evening prayers, reading Sacred texts.
You can also think about secular rituals: brunch with friends, your morning coffee, family dinners, holidays with extended family.
But then there are the ones that blur the lines between sacred and secular: Reading a poem a day, your creative practice, getting out into nature, heart to heart talks with people you love.
There are times in our lives when our rituals need a reboot. The rituals slide out of meaning and instead become a little musty. Now, sometimes that means we double down on them in order to slide them back into meaning again, but sometimes it means that we’re ready for a re-think.
I’ve been feeling that way lately. I’ve been doing morning prayers and reading a poem and meditating for ten minutes and while I like it I’ve been realizing that lately I also tend to rush through it. I’m not focused. I’m all over the place. Which sometimes just happens, but sometimes it’s a sign that I need to reassess.
So I started putting together a small altar place. A place to be intentional so that instead of meditating in bed I’ll actually use the meditation cushion I have. I bought a new candle and a singing bowl.
I’m also going to try to spend MORE time in ritual rather than less. Not all at once, I know that’s a recipe for disaster, but instead of just doing morning prayers, I want to add in another prayer time. Another moment to center myself. To pull me out of the hustle of the day.
But I’m also thinking about what I actually want out of that time. To connect with the Divine, yes, but also to connect with my own fears and needs and desires. To connect with my community and their needs and pains. To feel connected to something outside of myself, bigger than me. And in order to do that I need to not just read the prayers, but to have time to commune as well.
So an altar space. Some alarms to remind me. Something tactile (like candles).
What are the rituals that are really working for you? What are the ones that need some love? What are the ones that are blurring the lines between sacred and secular that you want to put some more attention towards? What might you want to revamp or reconfigure or re-start (or what might you want/need to stop)?