In this season, I seek rituals that I can return to consistently to anchor myself. The ones I’ve found most useful in this time are the ones that bring small joy, small rest, or small curiosity.
I repeat the word “small” because I’ve acknowledged for myself that I am already holding a lot. I don’t need, nor do I have the capacity, to take on big, drastic changes.
The benefits of these small rituals are more than enough; it is their smallness that garners such benefit in the midst of my hectic schedule. It is their inconsistent consistency (they are available to me whenever I need them) that keeps them light and continually draws me back to them.
...it is their smallness that garners such benefit in the midst of my hectic schedule.
I do not adorn my time with these rituals for the sake of being “productive” or appeasing any expectations (whether held externally or internally). I return to these rituals because they make me feel like myself, at my most quiet and core, while experiencing them. This is why I call them anchoring rituals.
I’ve shared an example of one of my rituals below, as well as some guiding questions you can explore if you’d like to create your own anchoring rituals.
I return to these rituals because they make me feel like myself, at my most quiet and core, while experiencing them.
A Ritual to Pay Attention
For any fellow lovers of stories, I’ve begun a meditative ritual of listening to poetry. Poetry Unbound curates this with great tenderness and depth. In each episode, listen to a poem read aloud to you, and then bask in the wonderful reflections from the show’s host, Pádraig Ó Tuama.
Poetry has offered many things to me throughout my life, not least of all the reminder to get still and pay attention, to move beyond myself and get out of my own head (especially useful when I get caught in unproductive, circling thought loops).
There are lyrics in the banal and rhythms in the mundane. There are lessons in the everyday. The world invokes wonder, and poetry invites us to be present for it.
Prompts to Create Your Own Small Rituals
As we continue to navigate all the pain and joy, fear and gratitude, uncertainty and confidence, change and consistency, loss and growth that give nuance to our unique and collective life experiences, I encourage you to cultivate an anchoring ritual or two.
1. When do you feel most at peace with yourself? What actions and/or experiences lend to this sense of peace? How could you invite them more regularly into your life?
2. What do you need right now? What are small practices that might help you fulfill this need?
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