Rituals and Routines

Our lives are full of rituals. Sometimes we call them routines or habits. Regardless of what we say, everyone has them. It could be as simple as getting up, making breakfast, going to work (or school). Or it could be more specific: eating the same thing every day or having a special meal or a certain TV show you watch, etc. The combinations could be endless, but take a minute and analyze yourself. What are your rituals?

What are our rituals? When we lived in San Diego we had our rituals, but I never really thought to call them that. Truth be told, I never really thought about it much. It was just what we did. But recently I've been contemplating this concept of ritual. What is it? In catholicism and other versions of christianity the mass is an old ritual (modified a bit through the ages). In Judaism, there is temple and Shabbat, and other rituals for special occasions. In Islam there are the five prayers a day (Salat), Ramadan and ritual fasting (Sawm), among others. In Paganism there are rituals like dancing the spiral dance, celebrating a full moon, and so many others; one's imagination is the only limitation. Is there power in these rituals? Is there power in the collective consciousness of so many people (or simply a single person) ritualizing the same thing? Or are they just habits? Routine? I could go on and on about my own experiences with rituals throughout my stint as a bad catholic, but that could be for another day. For now lets look at our rituals as we've created them. Because that is what rituals are: things we've created to celebrate and remember. Whether that something is a new day, or the end of a work day, or even a special occasions.

Back in San Diego our rituals were pretty simple. We'd wake up, shower, make breakfast (usually toast, peanut butter, and lots of coffee), then head off to our work. And when we'd finally settle in for the night the ritual was dinner (if we cooked that day), and TIVO! We had certain shows we watched on any given night (Heroes, Top Model, Project Runway, Top Chef, Lost, Iron Chef America, Survivor, etc.) Granted the TV show changed depending on the night (and I cannot remember them all), but they were constant depending on the day of the week. Then we'd head off to bed to start it all over again.

Here we've developed our own rituals. We get up at pretty much the same time everyday, exercise, shower, make breakfast (here it's coffee, two pieces of toast one with egg and cheese the other with peanut butter), read for a little, then head off to our respective jobs. In the afternoon, we settle in and recently its been two (or more) episodes of Sex and the City then one episode of Battlestar Galactica (thanks Mom-in-law for loaning us the DVDs, they are being well used!), shower, read, then bed.

Is it bad to have such routines? Does it reduce our lives to simple habits? Are we becoming an old married couple? Will our entire lives be spent on these rituals (old and new)? I am not sure. But I will say this: it's awesome to come home and know what to expect. It makes the days go so much faster. And, even at work, I find myself day-dreaming about hanging out with Chelsea, relaxing on our not-so-comfortable couch, and watching our shows. It's a great thing! Moreover, when we celebrate these rituals we're celebrating everyday we wake, we sleep, and we live.

Perhaps they're just routines, and we, as humans, like routines and are creatures of habit, but by ritualizing these things, we empower and remind ourselves to celebrate.