My word of the year is alignment. I want to use every decision I make to pause and ask myself if it's in alignment with my values, priorities, and goals.
You continuously inspire me, Kelsey! I love the year of the word you've chosen, and, even more, how you've defined it for yourself and how you're thinking of applying it to different areas of your life. I especially love the idea of monthly experimentation, as that's something I've been feeling called toward this year as well.
In a moment of synchronicity, I am literally in the middle of reading a chapter all about ritual-making in that book I mentioned in another comment - "How to Winter" by Kari Leibowitz. And now here you are, talking about...rituals! Ha! (In my book, the author also references another book: "The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices" by Casper ter Kuile, which sounds intriguing, though I've never heard of it before. Have you?)
I appreciate hearing about the ways you wish to cultivate daily practices of ritual throughout January - adding more reverence and beauty to your mornings, gratitude and connection to your evenings, and ritualizing your daily moments of transition too. In my "How to Winter" book, it talks about how the darkness of winter is an invitation into rituals and rites, so perhaps you will feel supported by winter's darkness as you devote yourself to your January rituals.
As I've been reading the chapter on rituals in my book, I, too, have been thinking a lot about what rituals I might like to add into my own life, though I'm still percolating. Still, I loved Leibowitz's suggestion to think of rituals in terms of timescales: smaller daily rituals, midsize rituals that happen weekly or monthly, and yearly rituals. One daily ritual she suggested that especially resonated with me was to make a sunset tea tray, with a hot drink and a little treat - pairing something so often seen as negative (the early darkness) with something delightful in order to reclaim early sunsets as a time for pleasure.
I also liked another framework Leibowitz mentioned, which is to think of ritual making in terms of 4 categories: which ones can bring you closer to yourself, which ones can help you gather and connect with others, which ones will bring you closer to nature, and which ones might help you connect to the transcendent (i.e. heritage and culture, feelings of awe, a higher power, or the great miracle of existing). There's much to think about!
Aside from ritual-making, one other experiment I'm trying out for January is to lean into wonder. There's actually a #wakeuptowonder challenge by D. Michele Perry that I stumbled onto quite by accident on Instagram. It's all about connecting to the things that inspire us or fill us with wonder and then documenting that in some small way. I won't be participating publicly in the hashtag challenge, but privately, I thought that making a point to notice more wonder on a daily basis throughout at least January could be very supportive as I continue to cultivate a more positive winter mindset :)
I'm re-reading The Power of Ritual right now! It has some gentle, accessible examples of creating non-religious ritual from traditionally religious practices.
Thanks for the info about this book, Heather! If the (non-religious) rituals in the book are derived from religious practices, does that mean there are a lot of references to religion and God in the book? Asking because I'm easily triggered by those topics and may want to steer clear...
I can think of one example in the book where the author references God in how he uses tarot cards to decide how God has manifested that day for his daily prayers/meditation, which honestly makes the book sound more religious than it is. The four sections of the book are Connecting with Self, with Others, with Nature, and with Transcendence. The religious practices are things like reading a secular text as if it were sacred, having meaningful meals with others, going on "pilgrimage" walks to connect with nature, creating some sort of prayer ritual through whatever activity suits you... It's more about finding modern spirituality by taking and leaving whatever you want from old traditions than it is about learning about religion.
My word of the year is alignment. I want to use every decision I make to pause and ask myself if it's in alignment with my values, priorities, and goals.
consistency
Oooh this is a good one Ana! I need a little of this myself.
You continuously inspire me, Kelsey! I love the year of the word you've chosen, and, even more, how you've defined it for yourself and how you're thinking of applying it to different areas of your life. I especially love the idea of monthly experimentation, as that's something I've been feeling called toward this year as well.
In a moment of synchronicity, I am literally in the middle of reading a chapter all about ritual-making in that book I mentioned in another comment - "How to Winter" by Kari Leibowitz. And now here you are, talking about...rituals! Ha! (In my book, the author also references another book: "The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices" by Casper ter Kuile, which sounds intriguing, though I've never heard of it before. Have you?)
I appreciate hearing about the ways you wish to cultivate daily practices of ritual throughout January - adding more reverence and beauty to your mornings, gratitude and connection to your evenings, and ritualizing your daily moments of transition too. In my "How to Winter" book, it talks about how the darkness of winter is an invitation into rituals and rites, so perhaps you will feel supported by winter's darkness as you devote yourself to your January rituals.
As I've been reading the chapter on rituals in my book, I, too, have been thinking a lot about what rituals I might like to add into my own life, though I'm still percolating. Still, I loved Leibowitz's suggestion to think of rituals in terms of timescales: smaller daily rituals, midsize rituals that happen weekly or monthly, and yearly rituals. One daily ritual she suggested that especially resonated with me was to make a sunset tea tray, with a hot drink and a little treat - pairing something so often seen as negative (the early darkness) with something delightful in order to reclaim early sunsets as a time for pleasure.
I also liked another framework Leibowitz mentioned, which is to think of ritual making in terms of 4 categories: which ones can bring you closer to yourself, which ones can help you gather and connect with others, which ones will bring you closer to nature, and which ones might help you connect to the transcendent (i.e. heritage and culture, feelings of awe, a higher power, or the great miracle of existing). There's much to think about!
Aside from ritual-making, one other experiment I'm trying out for January is to lean into wonder. There's actually a #wakeuptowonder challenge by D. Michele Perry that I stumbled onto quite by accident on Instagram. It's all about connecting to the things that inspire us or fill us with wonder and then documenting that in some small way. I won't be participating publicly in the hashtag challenge, but privately, I thought that making a point to notice more wonder on a daily basis throughout at least January could be very supportive as I continue to cultivate a more positive winter mindset :)
Oooh so many new books to explore. Thank you! I haven't heard of that other one you mentioned either.
That sunset tea tray sounds DIVINE. I also love those four categories of ritual. This definitely seems like a book I will need to check out.
Mmm celebrating you for pursuing wonder!
I'm re-reading The Power of Ritual right now! It has some gentle, accessible examples of creating non-religious ritual from traditionally religious practices.
Thanks for the info about this book, Heather! If the (non-religious) rituals in the book are derived from religious practices, does that mean there are a lot of references to religion and God in the book? Asking because I'm easily triggered by those topics and may want to steer clear...
I can think of one example in the book where the author references God in how he uses tarot cards to decide how God has manifested that day for his daily prayers/meditation, which honestly makes the book sound more religious than it is. The four sections of the book are Connecting with Self, with Others, with Nature, and with Transcendence. The religious practices are things like reading a secular text as if it were sacred, having meaningful meals with others, going on "pilgrimage" walks to connect with nature, creating some sort of prayer ritual through whatever activity suits you... It's more about finding modern spirituality by taking and leaving whatever you want from old traditions than it is about learning about religion.