Hi ,
Some people think I'm a little witchy. I like to light candles, I use a tarot deck on a regular basis, I acknowledge the moon cycles and the changing of the seasons...but the actual truth is I just really like ritual and introspection.
As I create a new warrior woman community, I've been thinking about ritual quite a lot. What is it that helps us do things we find difficult? What helps us show up
for each other? What makes gathering meaningful and fun? Good people, a shared purpose, and, I think, the power of ritual.
When I really think about it, ritual is something I've sought out for years. I also spend a lot of time questioning the way things have always been done to see if it still suits me. Christmas is a great example of this. I'm not religious, I don't love the consumerism of the holidays, and Christmas music is
more than a little weird when you really listen to it. So what parts of it do I want to keep? My family layers our own Yule traditions that acknowledge the season, nature, and togetherness on top of what is expected of us from our extended family who adhere to more common celebrations of Christmas.
And I'm starting to understand more about why I'm drawn to ritual, and you probably are, too. A few days ago I was listening to one
of my favourtie podcasts (It's called Witch by the BBC...really not helping my case that I'm not witchy!) and the topic was ritual. One of the guest described ritual as a way to calm fears and anxiety, especially during uncertain times. That makes perfect sense! And it makes me realize why I'm so drawn to layering ritual into my usual work
day/week/year, since entrepreneurship is inherently uncertain. A ritual is something you can count on.
I've been revisiting a fabulous book called The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices by Casper Ter
Kuile. (He also co-authored a paper called "How We Gather" all about secular gatherings that fill the space of church for people. Super fascinating to me.) He suggests one reason many North American's don't embrace ritual is because they want to be in control, and the nature of ritual is one of
surrender. He also reminds us that community is built through laughter and suffering, which explains the prevalence of community amongst entrepreneurs that we might otherwise lack in our "real" lives.
I could go on about this stuff forever, so let's end by getting really practical.
What are some rituals that are really nourishing you right
now?
What are some areas of your life where you're experiencing uncertainty or anxiety that could benefit from a little more ritual?
And of course, if you'd like support on creating more stability and ritual in your business (which of course flows into day-to-day life), let's talk. You can find all of my coaching info here.
Before we go, I am way overdue in sharing something super cool. Lauren Van Mullem, one of my favourite people, has written a seriously kick-ass book. I ordered it because she's my friend and I wanted to support her, but I've already used it SO.
MANY. TIMES. as I've been working through a new sales page. It's called Ethical Copywriting: A practical guide for coaches, healers, and service-based entrepreneurs to sell without the sleaze. She is the master at walking you through what you need to know to write well in this moment in time, with marketing messages bombarding us
everywhere we look.
And, I was surprised how many times I'm quoted in the book! She used my testimonial on the back of the book that says: "Copywriting can be really fucking boring. Your gift is teaching people how to think about copy for themselves - in a fun way." I won't spoil the other quotes for you, but they're pretty fun!
With that, I leave you to have a
lovely, ritual-filled rest of your week.
You've got this,
Stephanie Wasylyk
