Importance of Ritual  Home Blessings  Baby Welcomings  Labyrinth Ceremonies  Leaving the Nest  Milestone Birthdays  Passing On Values  Weddings/Renewals  Resources/News  How Does It Work?  Contact  Home		The Importance of Celebration & Ritual in a Chaotic World We are experiencing constant changes in today’s world and there is much that is unknown. One concept that is familiar, and does provide comfort, is that of ceremony. Studies have shown that meaningful rituals are associated with increased marital satisfaction and a heightened sense of personal identity among adolescents. In addition, rituals provide opportunities for family continuity, as traditions are passed along to children Family ritual says, in essence, “This is who we are.” Following are simple ways to mark life’s milestones with ceremony, provided by the Celebrant USA Foundation: Remember your elders. Include family elders in the creation and performance of family rituals to provide them an opportunity to pass down traditions, and to give children a sense of belonging to something larger than themselves. Include the kids. Let children help create their own meaningful rites of passage for coming of age from adolescence to adulthood. Ask them, for example, what they would like to take with them on their journey forward and what they would like to leave behind. Build new bridges. Help children and parents adjust to remarriages or shared living arrangements by creating step-family ceremonies to acknowledge new relationships, or rituals for moving between homes. Celebrate milestones. Use ceremony to mark passages such as retirement or career change, or to commemorate the beginning or end of business relationships. Home sweet home. Honor the space that you live in by creating a new house dedication or blessing ceremony. Have everyone pitch in to plant a tree to truly make the plot your own. To read about the power of a simple family ritual, download it here: Hope Candle (PDF) This story is in PDF format so you will need Adobe’s Acrobat Reader (4.0 or later) to view it. For more information on Celebrants, visit www.newenglandcelebrant.com Meaningful Celebrations, PO Box 420, Harvard, MA 01451, 978-263-5937 info@meaningfulcelebrations.com © 2006 Cindy Matchett