Space for Ceremony

I recently finished reading “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. If you have not already heard of this book (or her others), please run, don’t walk, to go get it. 

In one of the chapters, Robin, writes the following:

“Ceremony focuses attention so that attention becomes intention. If you stand together and profess a thing before your community, it holds you accountable. 

Ceremonies transcend the boundaries of the individual and resonate beyond the human realm. These acts of reverence are powerfully pragmatic. These are ceremonies that magnify life”

Humans seem to be more than called to create space for ceremonies- we are urged from an inner knowing to make the Devine earthly and to find a physical representation for things that we consider important or holy. There is no group of people to my knowledge, in all of human history, that hasn’t made real the desire to experience the spiritual TOGETHER in community with others in a sacred way. We see this manifest through our processes of burying the dead, planning and attending weddings, births, or celebrating the changing of the seasons. 

In another way, ceremonies, made up of rituals and symbolic objects, help us to witness and record time and our experiences through life. When practiced over time, it keeps us connected to not only our families, but to all people, living and passed. We are heard, we are validated, we are seen. Ceremonies can bring us a sense of comfort and inner knowing even through the deepest and most challenging personal and collective times. 

For me personally, I create my own rituals and ceremony to reflect on my time here on Earth. I release, I manifest, I give thanks, and I try to do this daily, weekly, and monthly in ways that make sense to me. I also crave ceremony with others and I can find that in my Women’s Circles, in my yoga practice, and in honoring time passing with friends and family. I encourage you to do the same. I encourage you to find small rituals or physical ways to tie yourself to the creator energy and to those that matter the most to you. Even further, I encourage you to find ways to celebrate that don’t require money or create additional stress or a feeling of time constraint. Ask yourself, how can I show thanks? How can I hold quite space for those around me? Where can I go to feel a sense of oneness with the world and with myself?

Nature is a beautiful and accessible place to start- the trees remind you that you don’t need much, or really anything at all, to feel purposeful and complete.

As always, bloom where you are planted.