The Power of Rituals
We humans love rituals. Some of us have been educated out of that love, but deep down, there is something about the form and substance of rituals that give us great comfort. Even the really scary kind (I’m thinking now about Mel Gibson’s movie Apocalypto) give comfort the wider group, even if they terrify the people directly participating. Anyway . . . .
I found this piece in the paper today on the value of rituals which begins with a story . . .
Before settling down to work each day, Michael Shermer has a cup of coffee with half-and-half (”never a latte at this point in his morning”) and reads the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal.
Then he sets off on his bicycle for a training ride with friends. Next, he drives his daughter to school and parks in a particular spot, the same one every day, gets his bike out again and pedals to Starbucks, the same location every day. There, he always drinks a venti latte while reading The New York Times. “It’s pretty dang predictable,” he says from his home in Pasadena, Calif.
Shermer is not a superstitious man. He writes a monthly column for Scientific American magazine, founded the Skeptics Society and wrote “Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time” (Owl Books, $16).
Interesting. For those who don’t know, Shermer is regarded as one of this age’s great skeptics, so his next statement stands out . . .
He doesn’t believe that if his first cup of coffee is a latte he’ll wreck his bike, or if he reads two newspapers instead of three he’ll suffer irreversible writer’s block. But he appreciates the power of rituals.
“I would make a distinction between rituals and superstitions, although they’re not completely separate,” he says. “Rituals are more just behavior patterns that make you feel less anxious, more comfortable. In a way, ritual attenuates the anxiety, and you don’t need some of the goofier superstitions.”
Call them what you will, “rituals, routines or almost-superstitions” these patterns impart the sense that your day will go well, that there’s a cause-and-effect relationship within your power to influence.
If not taken to extremes, they even can enhance your physical and mental health.
I take a larger thought out of this . . . take care of yourself. Be nice to yourself. Do things that make you feel safe. Create some healthy habits. And if you find that feeling harder to come by, think about finding some new rituals.
kah
Technorati Tags: Health Care, Michael Shermer, Health Habits
