It is natural for us to create habits out of our daily activities. The first few times we do something, we have to think about what we’re doing. But if we do it enough times, it eventually becomes a habit that we will perform without having to think. This is advantageous, because it frees up our mind for other things.
For instance, walking is not something that most people have to think about, they just do it. There was once a time in your life when walking took your full concentration, but now it takes almost no effort at all. The sequence of movements needed to walk: remain balanced, move forward, climb up and down changing terrain, avoid obstacles; these things all happen without conscious thought.
But sometimes we want conscious thought in our actions. Sometimes the reason for performing an action is specifically to focus our mind. Ceremony and ritual are the techniques we use to do this. Ceremony brings our attention to specific achievements or results, and is useful when you want to celebrate or reward people (including yourself) for an accomplishment. Ritual brings our attention away from the ’stuff’ of life and focuses our mind on a specific object or idea of our choice.
Both ceremony and ritual are important to our happiness and fulfillment in life. Both bring us up out of the everyday-ness and monotony that otherwise we tend to fall into. Both are fun, for different reasons and in different ways. And both are readily available to us on short notice.
While ceremony and ritual are both powerful tools for mindfulness, they are also easily abused. If we do everything ceremoniously, we forget about the importance of the bulk of life, the little things that make up our day and bring such beauty to every moment. And if we perform too many actions ritually, then we run the risk of making the ritual itself a habit and forgetting the purpose.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be exploring ritual and ceremony in more depth.
In the news
- I like the British name, ‘Scrumpox’, better: ‘Sumo virus’ warning is issued
- Are you sure it’s not just the lower thermostat setting due to rising fuel costs: Loneliness ‘makes you cold’
- Plus it keeps you warm, too? Excellent: Active Social Life May Reduce Men’s Alzheimer’s Risk
Quote for the week
I needed his lack of concern for the insignificant as much as he needed my mindfulness. But I had a tough time getting it… I was busy pushing my mindfulness, and he was unconcerned about pushing anything. - Jan Denise
Healthy thoughts,
Jeff
