This morning, it occurred to me to Twitter and blog (via Utterz) about my “daily ritual.” Specifically, what ritual do you perform every day that people better not mess with?
For me, it’s walking my son to school. Because of the time of morning, it means I get to work a few minutes later than I otherwise might, but it is one of those non-negotiable parts of most of my mornings; a time for us to calm down, walk with each other, and have 10 or so minutes of father-son time to start our days.
So, right– don;t f**k with our morning walk to school.
After putting out the call, I got lots of great responses about morning rituals:
- “Mine is brewing a fresh pot of Bustelo coffee and ยท taking my daughter to school. I actually enjoy the morning assembly.” (“DeJongh” on Utterz)
- Great thoughts from Jeremy Cartee on Utterz about disconnect between his morning rituals and those of his boss.
- “Mine is washing my hair. I really hate it when something interposes itself between me and the time I have to wash it.” (Maria Garcia, blog comment)
- “I can gauge things by everyone’s rituals at work” Paisano on Utterz
- “My Rite is the first cup of coffee and webcomics when I first get to the office. I arrive 15min early just to.make sure I have time!” (Neil Simmons on Twitter)
- “coffee and oatmeal every morning. starts the day off right.” (strussel on Twitter)
- “Spending quality time with my wife. My day is incomplete without that.” (Dave Huston on Twitter)
- “Walking my dogs – I used to love walking my daughter to school – she gets married in 2 weeks – my enduring memory the school walk” (Robert Paterson on Twitter)
I love these responses. They’re little glimpses into everyone’s lives and thinking.
What I neglected to ask, though some of you answered for me, is WHY?
So:
- What is your daily ritual?
Why is it your ritual?
And what would you do if someone f**ked with it?
Most rituals have this cool ability to give and take, and should have functional and spiritual properties. With a new bulldog, I’m enjoying the daily ritual of a walk and then some grooming and patting time… it calms me and he gives me this low, hypnotic bulldog growly purr. After the flurry of getting two kids fed, packed up, homework checked and on the bus, which stresses me out, his rock-solid steadiness grounds me. And then, yoga… and on to work. Don’t mess with the bulldog’s ritual… or mine.
Julie, great to meet you online after meeting you in person. That’s a refreshing switch.
And no, I wouldn’t mess with your routine.