Daily
Rituals
“A solid
routine fosters a well-worn groove for one's mental energies and
helps stave off the tyranny of moods.”
Mason
Curry (Daily Rituals: How Artists Work)
The late John Barrington
Baylee, New York architect and founder of Classical America, viewed
daily rituals this way: “One of civilization's tasks is to find
rituals which give human existence significance.” Most of us
don't think of our daily habits as rituals, but they are. From the
way we dress, to the way we groom, to the way we prepare our coffee
and where we drink it, the route we drive to work, we are enacting small rituals of daily life.
Some of us don't function well when our routine is thrown off,
including myself. Creatures of habit, we establish for ourselves an
order and sequence of events from the time we wake up in the morning
until we go to bed at night. Even our fun time is scheduled. It
sounds like a dull existence, but, in truth, it grounds us and keeps
us sane—that is, it helps us to maintain an orderly mind. According
to Mason Curry (Daily Rituals), the more we develop a predictable
daily routine for ourselves, “...the more our higher powers of
mind will be set free for their own proper work.”
It's not just humans who
establish rituals and routines. Most animal colonies have routines
that are predictable. The birds and squirrels who nest in my yard
begin hunting for food very early in the morning. They polish off the
cat food on my front porch fairly rapidly, and then come back
regularly to see if I have refilled the bowl. Yesterday, a
mockingbird sat on the same limb of the oak tree right outside my
front door and repeated an irritated chirp until I put out more
cat food. I was apparently messing with his daily ritual.
My little mutt-dog, Liza,
has a routine walking pattern. When I try to go in a different
direction, she balks. If I continue to pull her away from her
designated route, she simply goes to ground. Since she's built low to
the earth, her ability to exert gravity is surprisingly solid and
immovable. As soon as I “correct,” she's up and going.
Most of us are not aware
of our habitual daily practices; we do them by rote. Becoming aware
of them, enacting them consciously, paying attention with all our
senses, takes them into the arena of ritual; it makes them sacred.
Adding beauty to the spaces where we enact these daily rituals—a
small vase of flowers on the desk or table, a scented candle in the
bathroom—acknowledges Spirit's involvement in even the most mundane
activities of our lives. In the words of Carl Jung, “Bidden or
not, God is always present.”
Thought for today is from
Alexandra Stoddard (Living a Beautiful Life): “Your rituals help
bring the best of you into focus.” Have a sacred day.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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