The Magic of Turning Routines into Rituals
A lot of products promise to “work like magic.” They claim to reverse time or change nature. I think we all know that this isn’t real magic. It’s marketing. But sometimes we want to believe it’s true. Who hasn’t occasionally wished they could alter the flow of time?
But what makes magic real? What makes rituals powerful? What is it that raises the hairs on your arm, quickens your heartbeat, and leaves you feeling different in a way you can’t quite explain?
We throw the word “ritual” around casually in the wellness and lifestyle world - your skincare ritual, your morning coffee ritual. But what does that word really entail? I’ve devoted much of my academic studies to understanding the power of rituals. Rituals are time outside of time. We call that the “liminal space;” when you remove yourself from the mindless everyday and connect with intention, elevating our human experience with a heightened level of awareness. If you’re achieving that with your moisturizers, I commend you, because I certainly am not.
In order for any ritual to work, to really have transformative power over reality, there has to be Belief. Not belief like “oh yes, I believe I’ll have an almond croissant, please,” but Belief with a capital B. The kind that you feel in the pit of your chest, the kind that changes the way you see the world. The outcomes of a ritual depend on the person or people participating in the ritual have to capital-B-Believe that it will work, that it will do what it says on the tin. In a Western Christian religious sense, if a pastor is performing a baptism, both the pastor and the parishioner must Believe that the action has metaphysical soul-saving capabilities. Otherwise, they’re just dunking someone in a bathtub. Similarly, in manifestation work, simply speaking an affirmation does not will it into being (though words have power and that’s another conversation altogether). You have to visualize it taking hold and follow through with the work. Half-heartedly going through the motions does not count, because participating in a ritual requires your complete and mindful attention.
In our everyday lives, there are so many opportunities to transform our routines into rituals, to create little pockets of time-out-of-time that can enrich our spirits and help us to appreciate this beautiful life. But to make them truly transformative, we have to commit our energy to paying close attention. You can take a routine, a set of arbitrary obligations that you’ve committed to practicing, and turn it into a ritual that has true life-changing power simply by slowing down and acting with intention.
Imagine if you applied that level of attention and intention to your morning routine. What if, instead of rolling over and scrolling immediately, you started with a smile and a moment of gratitude. Even if the dog is whining to be let out. Even if the kids are jumping on the bed. You are alive and you are here! From there, that intentional recognition that this time is special, the actions that take place next may feel extra-ordinary. The way the coffee fills the mug. The way caffeine feels in your body. The way your breakfast tastes. All of these things are sensations to be observed, moments to be savored, transformative experiences waiting to be had.
In this time of rapid growth we are experiencing culturally around the Black Lives Matter movement, we are all taking on loads of new information and establishing new habits. But what if we made these new ways of reading, learning, and donating not just choreography to follow, but a sacred practice? We can make our recurring donations with the attitude of a tithe - committing our funds to the blessings of others. We can read Black authors as if they were new scripture. We can meet together in the streets and, knowing that where two or more are gathered, there will be metaphysical changes. At the root of all of this is Belief that change is possible, happening, already occurring. Because we will it so.
They can’t sell you magic, they can’t sell you a ritual. It’s something that only you can create for yourself, when you Believe in it.
