A friend of mine commented
that he didn’t want any rituals in his life.
I clarified that what I though he meant was
he didn’t want any routinein his life.
Routine, in my definition, is ritual gone bad.
Routine is the daily commute,
the obligatory Sunday dinner,
monthly heartworm & tick prevention for the dog.
Rituals, on the other hand, are mini-celebrations.
Holiday cookie baking,
all-family touch football games,
summers at the beach.
I have a daily ritual of getting coffee.
Not making coffee, procuring coffee.
I have ritualized the discovery
and enjoyment of coffee shop coffee.
Similarly, I have developed a ritual
around walking my dog.
So much so that while my dog
is away at doggie boot camp
I have taken to walking myself
to preserve the ritual.
According to happiness expert, Dr. Ben-Sharah:
“The most creative individuals
whether artists, businesspeople,
or parents (yay for creative parenting!)
have rituals that they follow.
Paradoxically, the ritual frees them up
to be creative and spontaneous.”
Agreed.
Creativity happens when we feel safe
to push boundaries and explore the unknown.
The comfort and familiarity of a beloved
ritual provides that much-needed grounding
and the opportunity to
reconnect, reset and re-create.
