Seeking Rhythm & Ritual

21 May

I took a break. That may be obvious from my lack of posting. I needed a week away. My intention had been to have a stockpile of 30 different daily intentions by the end of my little experiment… but after about 22… I started having the urge to repeat previous ones. So instead of forcing myself to stay in the box I’d created, I took a breather. Let the week just go by and tried to pay attention to what my natural rhythm ended up being each day. And in each portion of the day. To notice when I had energy, and when I tended to get cranky.

I think Monday is my bare minimum day. Where I pick just a couple of things… like going to the gym, posting a book on PBS, and taking a walk… and then let that be my bare minimum.  Anything else, is only if I feel like it, extra.  I noticed that the previous intentions that fell on this day were ones like Slow Down, and Gentleness. And since I work on the weekends… Monday tends to be my breather, but I also turn into a grump if I get to the end of the day without having done anything that feels productive.

You see this intention game is part of this bigger search of mine. To bring more rhythm and ritual to my days. To our days. I had an inkling of the need for this before… months and maybe a couple years before now. But the presence of a baby who’s behavior is landmarked by rituals (naps, mealtimes, play times), and who brings a decidedly more scripted pattern to our life, had made me realize even more how important rhythm is.

But I’ve wanted it to be a natural rhythm, in line with the ebb and flow that occurs spontaneously throughout the day. Action and exploration at the times when our bodies want to move and our minds are alert. Cooking and clearing when I need to get out of my head and back into my body. Ease and gentleness at the point in the day where we all get tired, a little worn out.

Without rhythm, the hours slip away so quickly, but the days somehow seem long.

I’ve been aching for rhythm.  I have been trying to discover my/our rhythm.

One Response to “Seeking Rhythm & Ritual”

  1. Janet May 25, 2012 at 2:34 pm #

    Just found you through Heather’s vegan workshop.

    I’ve read back through a few of your posts – I noticed that your child has skin problems, have you tried Pure Potions Skin Salvation? After reading a report on it in our newspaper then reading the many reviews I sent for a pot of Skin Salvation for my grandaughter aged 2 who suffered very badly from excema. We (my daughter and I) were sceptical as you read of so many miracle creams but this cream has been nothing short of miraculous!
    After only a couple of days we started to see results, after a couple of weeks the excema was almost gone with only a tiny patch remaining. She’s now completely free of it and has been for several months. No itching at all.
    Skin Salvation was created by a mother desperate to fix her child’s skin problem, she had tried so many things that didn’t work. I’m not connected in any way with the people making this cream, I just wanted you to know that there is something that does work. My daughter calls it miracle cream.
    I don’t know how to put a link on here but if you Google Pure Potions Skin Salvation they’ll be there.
    Janet

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