RITUALS AND ROUTINES

Much of my life consists of a great variety of rituals and routines. I looked up both words in a dictionary. A ritual was defined as a religious ceremony or a ceremonial act. A routine was defined as a commonplace or repetitive act. I think there's some overlapping of both concepts. For example, religious rituals are often repetitive. I find both rituals and routines important because they give my life a comforting stucture. Some of these I do daily, some weekly, some monthly, and some at irregular intervals.

I start each day with several routines that have a spiritual component. When I get up, I say the serenity prayer: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference, living one day at a time." I follow this with a prayer from from the Unity Publication prayerbook Daily Word. Each of these daily prayers have a theme and end with by a Biblical verse. After that, I read a short reflection from a book of daily affirmations which also ends with a brief quotation.

Other daily routines include writing entries in my personal (In my Life) and my Gratitude Journal. I developed one weird routine that came about because I kept waking up around midnight. Instead of trying to get right back to sleep, I now use that time to take a shower, shave, and change into clothes for the next day. Other daily routines include listening to MPR, watching the news on PBS-TV, reading a book, checking up on my emails, fixing meals, and playing music on my banjo, harmonica, autoharp, or button accordion. I also try to take daily walks, depending on the weather.

One routine that I try to adhere to twice week is to go swimming at the Blaisdell YMCA. I usually get there every Monday and Friday morning around 6:00 a.m., lap swim for about half an hour, and unwind for ten minutes in the whirlpool. I also go to Hennepin Country Central Library at least two or three times a week to check on my emails, print documents, and check out books and DVDs.

One weekly routine I stick to pretty religiously, pun intended, is to attend the Sunday morning service at Walker Church. I begin that day by joining in our weekly 9 a.m. meditation group, followed by the church service at 11 a.m., which incorporates a number of rituals such as music, poetry, prayers, and a weekly sermon. Other weekly routines include visiting with friends like Brad, Mary, and Shelley. Brad and I often meet for lunch on Fridays to play cribbage and ping pong. Since February, I've managed to write a weekly blog post in my WIX Senior Moments website.

There are also several monthly activities I look forward to taking part in. One big one is meeting on line on the first Thursday evening of each month with a group of disabled artists for a group called Open Flow. In this group, which includes writers, musicians, playwrights, visual artists, and one burlesque artist, we share whatever music, songs, paintings, sculptures, scenes, and stories people are willing to share that month. I've found this group to be very supportive and stimulating.

Another important monthly group I always look forward to attending is called SALT storytelling group. They meet at Walker Church on the third Sunday of each month at 1:30 p.m. This group, which began meeting at Central Lutheran Church over forty years ago, was started by a wonderfully talented storyteller named Sarah who specialized in Bible stories. I'll never forget the story she once told about Jesus and the woman at the well. SALT members have continued meeting at various Minneapolis churches to tell spiritual and personal stories. The facilitator is a fine teller who once worked as a nursing home chaplain. Another member is a professional storyteller who puts on story programs at churches and women's organizations where she embodies famous women like Corrie Ten Boom, Katie Luther, and Beatrix Potter.

Yes, I affirm that routines and rituals play a very important role in making my whole life run more smoothly.