In the days of fast internet and digital conversations the innocent need of my child to push the button to turn on the light every morning when he wakes up and in the stair case when we leave his nanny’s house leaves me with a sense of ‘belonging’.
We belong here in the present moment thanks to our rituals. They ground us in the every day life.
What are some rituals you love to engage in daily? A quick shower every morning to wake you up? That’s a ritual. Make it a moment of allowing the water to wash down your body and if you visualize light surrounding you, then it can even become a healing and a cleansing.
Talk about a power packed ritual!
Calling on the light as soon as I wake up is one of my favorite rituals.
And so is cutting cords…and meditating with angels.
Knowing that through the power of my own voice I am inviting light and peace on to the planet is a ritual I hope I can do for years and decades to come. It’s a ritual that strengthen my spiritual connection and gets to uplift others.
Some rituals have such a strong momentum that we all get carried into its wave whether we are ready for it or not. Ever wished you could just skip Christmas all together?
How about the ritual of eating turkey every year even though you might have hoped to fast or go vegan?
“Sorry family! I am ‘fasting’ on Thanksgiving this year!”
I am laughing for I actually did it once or twice during my years of cleansing on raw vegan food to connect more spiritually to my soul’s gifts of healing.
But this week, I surprised myself when I picked up a turkey to cook a Thanksgiving meal for my French friends who are total thanksgiving newbies.
And you know what?
It feels just as big of an accomplishment as fasting.
Going against what I was used to doing and going with the flow of the world I live in, actually, feels like turning on the light every morning and night so I can see where I am going.
Loving and accepting the world I live in and the world my child chose to live in, feels good.
Life is a mosaic
forever asking us to find a way to belong. Our every day activities creating varied colors forming a multitude of tapestry making up our great adventurous lives.
In a life time, rituals might come and go. Some are are taken back by a great sea, the loss of a job,
a relationship ends,
children grow up,
a loved one crosses over…
Other times, the greatest ship you have ever seen moves through fog and brings to you a brand new city,
with a new job,
new relationships,
and new ways to belong, adding rituals to your every day connections to
others,
life, and the divine,
forever exchanging energies.
Thinking about the many ways we now connect online,
what are some nourishing rituals that can both
connect us and help us feel like we belong?
Some online groups have daily themes of what to share on that day.
On my end, writing you each week has become a tremendously nourishing ritual.
How to add rituals to your life?
Starting the ritual ought to feel natural and useful,
like turning on the light so you can see where you are going.
A ritual ought to strengthen your spiritual connection and if possible gets to uplift yourself and others.Rituals can be at the rhythm of your earth family – such as someone else started the ritual and you are jumping in and participating.
It might be in your city or in your country.
Or you could start new rituals, like Alvin Tam from Barefoot Sanctuary when he started International Handstand Day and it has now become a huge Day to Celebrate upside down.
Or Doreen Virtue started International Angel Day and we celebrate that day each year in September.
Or, one of my fairy favorite: birthday parties.
Inviting family over every Sunday for a meal.
Going to the needy and sharing a smile every Friday.
Rituals help me find that life has so much more colors
love and light
and they bring a sense of safety.
Share with me some of your most favorite rituals and others you may aspire to create …
Danielle Dove
PS: How do you see habits as different from rituals?
Rituals to me are a choice I make in the moment to cherish life and to be fully in the moment which is a very spiritually nourishing experience.
Habits aren’t as nourishing and are harder to break. They tend to sneak up on us in default, whereas rituals include other people in our community and are usually done together.
Habits are mostly done solo and not ideal for our growth. It’s so much easier to break a ‘bad’ habit by inviting a new spirit filled ritual into your life and include a few others to join you.
What would be a great new year ritual you’d love to start?
Begins December 13 2013!
