Rhythms, Routines and Rituals

Transitions It’s the beginning of a new year still and many of us are checking in if we are still ‘on track’ with the intentions and commitments we made for this new start. But to be honest, isn’t most of life all about transitions anyway? Transitions between work to rest, singleness to family life, health to sickness and back to health, winter to spring, childhood to adolescence, and adolescence to adulthood, night to day, from solitude to social engagement…

That’s why transitions matter so much because our lives are transitions – and eventually the final one from this side of the eternity to the other.

I have nowhere near mastered the art of transitioning well, but I do have become aware of the need to pay attention to this. After yet another international move, getting married, quitting my job and leaving my community behind, there is enough to ponder about transitioning.

I have noticed that when I face big changes, those little routines that have become like rituals to me, are so important to help me ground myself and find ways of connecting again with things that I value.

Rhythm of Life A while back, I was talking about this with my Spiritual Director and she suggested me to create a visual ‘rhythm of life’ chart where I would put down for each day, week, month and season, things that I need to do to nurture myself. So I did that and zooming in to those little things that I forget that I used to do actually for a reason before ‘the big change’ happened, helped me to put them back into my life. And other times, I notice that it’s a liberating chance to re-evaluate and notice that in some ways how I used to live wasn’t actually that helpful and I needed to put in place new routines that help me grow and become a more balanced person.

As trivial things as what we eat, when we eat and with whom we eat can have a huge influence on our lives and consequently with our lives with God. For example, for the past months I wasn’t working and noticed that there was no difference between the week and weekend for me anymore. So I set out to build a rhythm of enjoying a special breakfast/brunch with my husband on Saturday mornings to help create a routine, remind me to celebrate life, take a rest and spend quality time with the family (all things that I value).

How have you transitioned to this weekend?

Ps. I also created a simple printable ‘Rhythm of life’ sheet that I am happy to share with you!