“At first, we might feel awkward creating a ritual from scratch. But we can trust the ritual intelligence that inspired our ancestors (and that we have inherited, whether we know it or not), decide what it is we want to consecrate (make sacred) with our time and attention, and find the words and the gestures that feel natural for us.”
~ Fabiana Fondevila
Photo by Markus Spiske
Building on your reflection and exploration the past five days, we hope you’re feeling ready to consider what new rituals might be called for in your life right now — and to go about creating them! While certain of our rituals are connected to communal traditions that may not be ours to easily change, there’s much that is ripe for our care and creation. Today’s practice is an invitation to spend time exploring where ritual is needed in your life but doesn’t yet exist — and how you might go about creating something new. Where is there a longing, and how can you respond through ritual? We’ll focus on a personal ritual today and move to the communal as part of the last day’s practice.
- Begin with Gratitude. Again return to your breathing and gratefulness practice, this sweet ritual.
- Reflect. A gentle place to begin this creative endeavor is to ask yourself what you’re yearning for or needing more of in your life. Is it more play and joy? More movement? Healing of mind or body? Quiet and solitude? Connection with friends? Spaciousness to take in the changes in our world?
- Create a Ritual. Once you’ve clarified what you’d like to nurture more of, let yourself begin imagining a simple ritual that would create space for this. For some, this may feel intuitive and easy. For others, more challenging. Helpful things to consider: What artifacts might you include? Music, a candle, a book of poems? Virtual connection with others? A walk to a special place? An expression of gratitude? Play with sketching out something simple. Try it out. Allow it to evolve over time and be open to the possibilities that emerge.
Deepening Resource:
Earth Altars: A Practice for Grateful Living by Laura Loescher
We invite you to share your reflections below.
Enjoy the full seven-day Tending the Rituals of Our Lives practice.
I have a a lot of virtual meetings with family/friends. I have a lot of writing and photography projects I have been working on during the pandemic. I take time in the morning (with my husband) to do spiritual reading, pray, meditate, and exercise. I am looking forward to warmer weather so I can go walking outside. When I was in high school, I loved to sketch – I am now 75 – and would love to return to sketching – I always found it so peaceful. I am going to order a sketch book and pencils and begin sketching as a new ritual.
Healing of mind and body. I have the healing of the mind pretty well down with inspirational reading and devotional time, journaling and such. It’s the healing of the body that has me yearning. How do I make a ritual of that? First of all, I have to be grateful for my body, such as it is now. Secondly, I will create time and space to exercise my body in a way that shows gratitude and acceptance and love.
Connection with friends would be nice. With the Pandemic, I seem to have slowly lost initiative since I can’t be out and about. I will attempt to call or write someone each day.