2021 - Rituals that Sustain Us
Ready or not, the new year is upon us. I like to celebrate the turning of the calendar with a glass of champagne and some fireworks, but this year was not usual. Rather than a “brand new start” it seems like “more of the same.”
The idea of making resolutions also feels different this year. I still believe in looking forward and imagining a better year, but this time I took a look at what worked during the year that just ended. When COVID-19 became an everyday part of life in March, I approached the first two months of social isolation with a positive attitude. Closets were cleaned, TV series were binge-watched, I even waxed all my wooden kitchen utensils. I signed up for on-line trainings I had been wanting to take and re-designed my website, brain-storming about how to grow my online business.
The months went by. I missed my friends and family even with Zoom holidays and birthday parties. The news did not help with partisan politics and racial disharmony, protests, demonstrations, violence, acting out.
Going over the year, I picked out the best days and looked at what made the good days feel good. What did I do that day? What did I avoid? I was looking for patterns to see what worked for me.
On the days I did yoga followed by meditation, I felt centered. When I set out and accomplished three goals in the course of the day, I felt better. Reaching out to new people, even online, to have conversations about meaningful things was important. Walking outside and breathing fresh air made a difference.
At the end of 2019 I had begun offering monthly meetings online including SoulCollage®, a powerful, intuitive art technique for finding inner wisdom. I found that having a regular monthly meeting for women at the time of the new moon was powerful. I experienced the power of ritual.
A ritual can be anything that gives you a sense of meaning that you do on a regular basis. Meeting on the new moon does not require any special set of beliefs or practices. It is simply a time to focus attention inward, create some art within a group and come together to listen, share and witness in a confidential way. As an art therapist, I like offering a way to create something unique and beautiful that you can also learn how to use for personal growth.
Learning something new is a wonderful way to keep yourself engaged, involved and becoming.
Wishing you a bountiful and easeful year.