Ritual can add a lot of value to an experience. I don’t mean habits or routines. Those are different from rituals. I deliberately try to set up routines to compensate for my forgetfulness. They are to avoid disaster. Ritual is to spice things up.
Take chop sticks for instance. Chop sticks make Chinese food taste better. If you don’t believe it, the reason could be you never learned to used chop sticks. I can’t explain it. I can’t prove it. It is still true. A fork might be quicker but there is a cosmic sympathy that is just not there.
Hand grinding coffee for the French press is a lot slower than pre-ground in a drip machine. It gives a more satisfying result. To illustrate this check out all the videos out there proclaiming they have the perfect way to process it. They use scales to measure coffee and water in grams and timers to make sure you pace is right. It is all for the perfect cup.
Here are a few of the rituals I value that occurred to me.
Voting in personThere are quicker ways to do things. In an objective world they would be just as good as the traditional ritual methods. Sometimes they are. Sometimes they are not but the trade-off is worth it. Often the ritual makes life richer. Sometimes our emotions remember what our mind has forgotten and we are feeling valued memories rather than contemporary experiences.
Liturgy in worship.
Eating grapefruit with a spoon
Writing with a fountain pen
Reading from a really well made book
You may have your own rituals. Take the time to enjoy them. Let the mocking roll off like the advice of a fool.
homo unius libri
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Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.