And thanks to everyone for sharing your rituals, I feel so lucky that such thoughtful people are here

Like… my dad died, and he hadn’t been the nicest person to me, but my mother shut me out, and there was no funeral, and I was so glad my dad was released from his illness, but I still grieved about so much stuff from the past, so I made my own funeral for him. I went to the coast and let go of a lot of hard, concrete things into the water and also let some flowers be captured by the waves.

It was hard to do. My stomach was in my throat because I was so aware of the power of what I was doing and didn’t want to screw up for him or for me. I just tried hard to focus on releasing him and releasing myself.

I did really well. The ritual helped me so much, and I haven’t been slowed down in my grieving of my father. I feel free to feel whatever I need to feel because I have done right by his place in my life — and that is something that a regular funeral wouldn’t have been able to do.

Totally beautiful!

Thank you – made my head go quiet.
.-= Andrew Lightheart @alightheart´s last blog ..How to make sure you fight at Christmas =-.

my ritual is cleaning up the kitchen before going to bed. i love getting up in the morning to a clean kitchen – puts me in a great mood every time.

when i have something to brew on, i usually find something to clean as a way to think it through.

there is a lot of comfort for me in the traditional jewish stuff i grew up on and also a growing realization that there are other ways of meditation and prayer that feel more comforting to me which i rely on more often than my traditional judaism.

your post makes me appreciate different parts of my life that i’d previously overlooked.

thankss.
.-= char brooks´s last blog ..How The Littlest Things Can Make The Biggest Difference In Your Life and In Your Health =-.

If I’m home when the sun sets, I sit down and have a moment of spectacular natural beauty all to myself.
I’m considering organising client session times next year so I’m available for the sunset.

Before my gentlemanfriend and I start to cook together, we put on some music, pour a glass of wine, have a little ‘ching’ of the glasses then start shuffling and chopping away. We love that.

And, this afternoon, at 3pm, as I am every year, I will be sitting with a glass of (so dry it’s almost salty) sherry, feeling all expansive and a little teary as the Kings College Cambridge choir soloist starts the concert with Once in Royal David’s City.
I’m not religious in the slightest but the church organ and whole choir singing is so incredibly touching and rousing.

I’ll be thinking more about this for 2010.
.-= Pauline Esson´s last blog ..It’s coming…. =-.

kinda like belief systems…you know, B.S.

and what to do when they don’t work anymore?..get rid of them and adopt a new one that does!

thanks for the thoughtful post,

Mtn Jim
.-= Mtn Jim Fisher´s last blog ..Time, Freedom, and Choice =-.

I love ritual and have created lots of it in different situations – I really believe that the symbolism of ritual acts can be amazingly powerful – in everyday rituals, yes, but also in larger ones.
To me, it’s too bad when we just let the tradition totally dictate what we’re going to do, without learning about why we do it, and having the opportunity to form it in a way that’s most significant to the people involved.
A couple of years ago, I was honored to be asked to officiate at the wedding of a dear friend – partly because she wanted me to create a ritual that would meet their desires to have something that was meaningful to them, and yet would not be excessively uncomfortable for their families, some of whom have very conservative beliefs.
It was an amazing journey for me to research, write and perform that ritual. I was honored to do it.
Be well!
Andy
http://binauraljourneys.com
.-= Andy Dolph´s last blog ..Music that moves me =-.

And I think rituals are like an eternal camera- taking snapshots of the meaningful moments
.-= Pearl Mattenson´s last blog ..12.22.09 =-.