Erin
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I’ve been appreciating what you shared here about the wisdom beings Amy. Just give it a second, dude, haha. I’ve found this totally supportive to contemplate and work with, thanks for sharing.
Hello friends on the path, thought I’d add a little to this corner of our practice space. Ritual is a huge part of my day to day life, being able to ritualize anything, from how I brush my teeth, to creating a piece of art, to the way my day is organized is what gets me from I can’t do this, to I am inspired. I learned through the years that anything that whiff’s of goal or routine is like an immediate off button for me / burn out waiting to happen, and yet I crave and do well with structure so I can get this kaleidoscope mind into the world and into my everyday existence! I am also a ritualist and I offer ceremony to others when asked, mostly at thresholds of some kind such as birth or death, or a union or dissolution of some sort. My work there is rooted in my own experiences in doulaships with with liminal phases of life, I have found I feel a certain type of confidence there. I get really good feedback in my life when I honor ritual and form, as long as I listen and attend to the organic unfolding between myself and the structure. Being willing to be a total fool here has also helped me more times than I can name, just flat out failing, flailing and not gonna do it, and also hilarious mishaps and conundrums that only appear when I lighten up! I had a very useful ritual years ago of naming three things I am grateful for, it was less a do this and feel better heavy handed set of instructions, and more of a practice with whatever is there (because it was such a difficult period in my life) and continue trusting in the felt experience kind of practice. I was grateful for some really ridiculous things (because dark times) and they all offered me something irreplaceable in presence with them. That approach was held by it being ritualized, I did the practice and let go. I didn’t make it a deal. That simple ritual after a year or so infused my life with a bounty of simple, silly and sometimes profound things to be in communication and communion with and in turn I felt myself coming back into life. I hadn’t thought about that in a while (like 15 years!) so it’s fun to reflect on here.
Another ritual I often lean into, especially in times of burnout or confusion, is sitting in a specific spot in nature over the period of a week or more and noting what arises with that spot, it’s a simple gesture that’s offered me so much gentleness and insight into the nature of relationship, and receiving in particular. I was once gifted a beautiful antler shed from the tree I sat with for weeks, it was tangled up in a bush near the tree but for whatever reason that day as I said my goodbye’s to the spot, wrote my poems and turned over my thoughts to the space I decided to walk a different way, and there it was. It felt clear and immediate that it was a gift. Total magic and totally mundane!
My meditation practice and especially as I sit more consistently this year has been supported by this same kind of relating practice, which for me feels like what ritual really is. I relate with myself and my space and the forms, and engage from a place that is real and in emergence and conversation with. I love to call this space of ritual attending call and response relating. My space is set up near a window looking out to a set of hills that roll into mountains in the distance, there’s a sweet green swath of trees and I can open the window to feel myself both sheltered in my home and intertwined with nature. Sometimes vultures swoop through the air, other times a hummingbird will zip close close, mostly it’s the lawnmower or the distant car, light changing. Even though it’s a small space in an open foyer I really appreciate its container. My cushion is buckwheat and forms a real sweet seat, that is just right, haha. And I have a blanket that was mine when I was little as an added adjustment on my cushion. I hadn’t used this cushion much in the years since I got it, and having it as a consistent and inviting spot has helped me relate a lot more to this is where I sit each day. It has helped to make this spot in the house feel purposeful and very simple, easy to enter and leave, it feels clear. I put all of my dharma and buddhadharma books on a shelf nearby so I can grab a random page to contemplate, and arranged some photos taken in Tibet by a family member, an old crone painting from Spain where I was born, a collage I made of a glow in the dark buddha and other simple elements that remind me of the wakeful and playful quality of my practice and the inherent richness in my ability to hear and practice the dharma. Writing this I feel that very quality come up in me, I am really grateful to have such teachings in my life and to have the time and space to work with them alone, and together and in my world. On top of my bookshelf is a rotating field of items, right now it’s the antler, curving around a clear glass ball and painted box of Datura seeds I collected several years ago in another coincidental encounter with nature. The living quality of ritual is what inspires me to continue living into my experiences as they unfold, on the cushion and off and holds my hand when I just don’t want to anymore!
I love hearing about the cozy little den space! And the shawl hug. I feel immediately soothed. I also am really loving the 4 reminders, something so pithy, so true and so real permeating somehow really opens up space for experiences to deepen, and confusion to compost itself into experiences which tend that gentle home base of space and warmth. Love seeing you here JoJo!
