on the necessity of creating rituals & hanging disco balls
I have been processing a lot this last month. I’ve noticed in the last few years that June has a tendency to be a busy, almost overwhelming month for me, filled with reminders of the many social justice issues still requiring our energy and work. Being reminded afresh with new stories of all the injustices in the world takes its toll. In the last few years, I have found that June has become an exhausting ball of communication for me to untangle. Maybe you can relate?
Amidst the flurry, June happens to be when my birthday falls, and this year I celebrated a significant milestone. I turned 40! I have always enjoyed my birthday, and seen it as an opportunity to create a party, a moment that is reflective of me and my community, and what I want to be about. Also, just an opportunity to be silly, playful, and frivolous. I have hosted square dances, coffeehouses that showcased my friends musical and comedy talents, house parties centred on a colour, decade or style of dress, cabin extravaganzas, and birthday vacations.
My birthday has always felt like an important ritual, a space and time where I felt completely free to plan something extravagant that speaks to what I want and need in this moment, and to usher in what I hope for in the next year.
Especially this year, as I’ve noticed this trend of overwhelming amounts of communication, the need to slow down, to create space for play and rejuvenation was essential.
I had pretty audacious hopes for this event: a rave-like dance party, complete with lights, disco balls, pumping sounds from my youth and all things shiny and extra. I had invited my friends to come and revel in the abandon and freedom of dance. To dress up, party and release some of the tension of the last few years.
For many of us, we have lost the practice of ritual, but as humans, we crave it. We need moments to make meaning of our lives. Opportunities to celebrate, honour, remember, release, and set a new course. For me, my birthday is both an opportunity to set a theme or intention for the year, a reminder of something I want to stay close to, to anchor me for this next year.
I have created rituals around the end of a chapter, the beginning of a new adventure, honouring grief or loss, and commemorating the shifting of a belief.
They all look and feel different, from smashing plates, to sitting under a beloved’s favourite tree, to writing poetry, to collecting rocks, to dancing with pure abandon.
What remain the common threads in creating rituals are:
The reflective space to acknowledge something significant has occurred
The design of an event, an act, a movement, an occasion through which to release emotion
The carving out of time to prioritize yourself, your needs, and your healing
What rituals have you created that gives you meaning and support?
What situation or event has occurred that you are now realizing may need space to be honoured?
If you’d like to create a ritual around something and want to connect, tap the connect button and let’s chat!
-RH
