Jewish families around the world just got done celebrating Yom Kippur, “The Jewish New Year.” With this holiday comes Rituals. A Jewish person is required to fast for 24 hours to ask g-d forgiveness for their sins and to start out the new year with a new start. Ramadan in Islam is a time where each individuals fasts for a month from dawn to sunset so that they can pray and reflect on their lives. Lent in the Christian religion is a time where individuals give up something for 40 days, for example: eating meat. There are many other religions and religious practices that have rituals. The definition of a Ritual according to Miriam-Webster is, “relates to ceremonies, done in accordance with social custom or normal protocol, order of words prescribed for a religious ceremony, an act or series of acts regularly repeated in a set or precise manner.”
There are also Rituals that occur away from religious practices. The ball dropping on New Years Eve in Time Square, New York. Fireworks on the Fourth of July in the United States. Boxing Day in the United Kingdom are some examples. Families also create rituals in the dynamic of their families. In my home during Halloween we carve pumpkins and roast the pumpkin seeds. Maybe you have a group of friends that you take a trip with every year, this can be considered a Ritual. Take a moment to think about the Rituals in your life. I am sure you can come up with at least a few. I love the symbolism of a Ritual.
Have you ever gone through a change or a major life experience and wanted to mark this time with a ritual? Maybe it’s a toast to a loved who has passed, lighting a candle on the anniversary of their passing or maybe you have a nightly ritual of talking to them. Major life changes and loss can really rock someone’s world. I think creating a personal Ritual is a great way to help a person cope when going through this time in their lives. When a child goes off to college many parent’s begin to purge and clean out their rooms. These are the actions we take to adapt and adjust to new beginnings.
Divorce, breakups, loss, empty nesters, moving and maybe even graduating school or college can all be represented with a ritual. This is my challenge to you. If you are going through a life change or are about to start this new phase of your life mark it with a Ritual. This Ritual can be anything that you deem appropriate for this life change. It may be as simple as reciting a positive quote to yourself each day. If you have moved into a new home maybe you want to sage it so that you have a fresh start in your new home. If you are going through a divorce maybe incorporate a weekly Ritual into your routine that nurtures you and builds your self-esteem. If you are single parent on the weekends when your ex has the kids create a Ritual that you repeat for yourself. I know that when I was in this phase of my life those weekends became the time I would do something unique and out of my comfort zone for myself. This just made me a better mom when my daughter would return home.
A great Ritual to help you let go and to start a new beginning is by lighting your fireplace or having a fire pit outside. Write down all of the things and ideas that you would like to let go of. Throw these pieces of papers into the fire to represent you letting go and starting a new phase of your life. This becomes a Ritual that you can incorporate into your life even on a weekly or monthly basis. Identifying Rituals that can improve your mental health and allow you to move forward in your life become an asset to you.
Tattoos are gaining in popularity as a Ritual to represent many things in ones life. Words, pictures, symbols tattooed on your body are all a Ritual. This can give you closure, a memorial or the start of a new beginning in your life. I have always been hesitant to get something as permanent as a tattoo. However, I am thinking about getting a henna tattoo first on my wrist to see if this is something I really want to do. I have been wanting this tattoo to represent the new phase of my life as an Empty Nester. If I actually get the real tattoo this may become a Ritual for me when I have major life change.
I hope that I have implanted this thought into your brain of Rituals. I find that Rituals can be a great coping skill to have in your tool box of ways to take care of yourself. Begin to think about Rituals that you want to add to your life. There truly is something magical in the idea that we can mark events in our lives with positivity and self growth with a Ritual. I will be videoing my experience of getting a henna tattoo on my Instagram, Facebook and TikTok accounts. Keep an eye out for this knew Ritual and maybe you will start to identify ways that you can mark your special life changes with. Wish me luck.
POSITIVE THOUGHTS CREATE POSITIVE ENERGY
GO OUT AND EXPLORE ALL OF THE WIDE OPEN SPACES IN YOUR WORLD
CIAO
ILISE
