Make Your Own Rituals

Rituals are powerful. We have formal rituals like graduation ceremonies and weddings, which help everyone present realize that a new chapter is beginning. We also have informal, daily rituals, like how you wake up in the morning and get going, or the last things you do before bed each night. Rituals can help us make meaningful memories, and in smaller ways they help make life feel familiar and comfortable.

Growing up you first join rituals, but as you get older, you gain the ability to make your own. Just like you might have a story read to you as a young child, but as you get older, you can write your own stories. Now is the time to learn how to make rituals. It’s a powerful ability, letting you turn a normal moment into a special one, or help to honor a big milestone in life, or to bring people together. If this speaks to you, read on below for more.

Getting Started:

1. To get the feel for this, take a look at some examples:

   1. Family Rituals: You could create a family ritual, like a way you start a meal together, that helps everyone feel more connected. Like saying one thing they appreciate about each other, or sharing one good thing that happened to them that day.

   2. Friends’ Rituals: You could create a ritual with friends, like a secret handshake when you see each other, or tradition of sending a text each morning when you wake up, as a way to connect.

   3. Rituals for Big Moments: You could create a ritual to mark a big change in your life. Like when you finish a grade in school, you could suggest that your family go to a place that’s special to you, like a beautiful beach or forest, and have a picnic to celebrate and tell stories about the last year.
      

2. Think of a moment in your life that deserves a ritual. With those examples above in mind: can you imagine a ritual you would like to make? If you’re not sure how, think of these guiding questions:

   1. Is there an important moment or milestone coming up, when you’re finishing something or starting something? This could be a school year, a birthday, a move, becoming a teenager, getting your first job, etc?

   2. Is someone close to you about to reach a major milestone, and could you create a ritual for them as a special way to celebrate

   3. Is there a person or group who you would like to connect more with, where a ritual could help? Maybe with a friend, or your family?

Remember that making a ritual is like telling a good story. If you tell it with passion, and add fun and interesting details, it will activate people’s imaginations and take on a life of its own. You might find it one of the most meaningful ways to connect and celebrate the big moments in life.