Rituals

These aren’t your parents rituals. Or maybe they are.

The word “ritual” has interesting overtones.

I know for many it has very specific religious meanings. For example, having grown up Catholic, I get that. I’ve lived it. Catholicism is full of rituals.

But I love when people expand their view on what it means, particularly in a more secular direction.

I have a good friend — I’ll call them “#4″(*) — who lives alone, and spends what some might consider an unhealthy amount of time playing online games. Except they have rituals.

They’re a beer afficionado, and have developed relationships with many of the local craft people. They’ve got a schedule and a route and friends they meet with regularly. In person. If it’s Friday, they’ll be at this brewpub for lunch, followed by that other one for the afternoon. This plays out throughout most of the week.

They explicitly refer to this as their ritual.

Part of my adoption of rituals is to join them for at least part of theirs. Most Fridays around lunch time you’ll find us, and an assortment of other like-minded folk, at a local brewpub, enjoying the latest brew, discussing the latest dumpster fires, and just generally enjoying each other’s company.

For those who immediately associated “ritual” with something more formal, it doesn’t have to be so. It can be as simple as a semi-regular lunch, coffee, walk, game, or whatever gets you in contact with other people.

It’s something I’ve been trying to prioritize for myself.

(*) They’re #4 on the list of people I’m still in regular contact with whom I’ve known the longest. #1 is my wife. Had lunch with #2 and #3 just the other day.