What is a ritual? What’s it for?

The graduation ceremony. An engagement ring. An 18th birthday party. What are they for?

In our culture rituals are often used to mark a change of state. You were a student, and now you’re qualified. You were single, and now you’re betrothed. You were a minor, and now you’re an adult.

We love rituals, and that’s why they’re all around us. We build them. And we should consider building more…

The ritual of having a cup of tea when we get home from work to signifies it’s time for a change of state. You were in work mode, now you’re in relaxation mode, and the ritual helps us to let go of stress.

Do we really believe that the t-shirt we wear to gym is a training shirt. That we couldn’t train as effectively in any old shirt. No, the ritual of putting on your gym clothes signifies a change of state. Whatever you were doing before, now it’s time to kick some ass.

And so we have the opportunity to build rituals into our lives, to tell our self that it doesn’t get to decide if it’s in the mood to train, or to work, or to be creative. We have the opportunity to ring to ring Pavlov’s bell and for our self to say, “oh, I know what that bell means, it means it’s time for the practice”