Rituals 2

Rituals-2

I have now gotten into the habit of biking to work, meaning I have now incorporated the waterfront into my routine. I love it, but I do miss my reading and music-time commute. I think I need to alternate to keep some sense of balance.

I have been reading ‘The Power of Myth’ by Joseph Campbell. I have felt some kind of obligation to read it after so many mentions of ‘Joey Cams’ by Pete Holmes on his podcast ‘You Made it Weird’. It’s good to read. I can leave the world of work pressure (it is relentless and insurmountable) and think about something more abstract. Today, my vacation is in thinking about myths and why we need them.

At times, I think I can be boiled down to an angsty rejector of myths and the rituals that spring from the stories we are told for various, nebulous reasons.

However!

I am compelled to agree with Joseph Campbell on why myths (in general) still have an important place in our society. He argues that myths make up many invisible and unanimous unspoken agreements that inform how we behave and interact in our communities. The act of passing down stories from one generation to the next informs our sense of fairness, our sense of who we are in the world and our shared syntax.

Even his explanation on the ritual of marriage is quite beautiful (though somewhat fantastical and romantic):

[On marriage] “The myth tells you what it is. The reunion of the separate duad. Originally you were one. You are now two in the world, but the recognition of the spiritual identity is what marriage is. It’s different from a love affair. It has nothing to do with that. It’s another mythological plane of experience. When people get married because they think it’s a long-time love affair, they’ll be divorced very soon, because all love affairs end in disappointment. But marriage is the recognition of a spiritual identity.”

For many years, I have been operating as a contrarian; rejecting marriage and certain societal expectations for what it means to be a young (HA!) woman. I don’t think my stance has changed dramatically, but maybe I am softened by reading this book, and also about Patti and Fred Smith- a true duad.

Maybe I am just getting soft in my old age.

And though I may reject certain aspects of the myth I do find that there is a charm to it’s entanglement with ritual. Maybe it’s some yearning to find comfort in the exhaustion of the grind, and in contrast, the lull of silence. Maybe, there is just a comfort in patterns.

—

I spent this week with friends, old and new. I went to see a play that my incredibly talented friend Janneke did the costumes for (I feel so much pride for her and her work).

On the weekend, I spent time drinking and playing guitar to an audience of two. It’s true that my friends were simply humouring me, but I don’t care. I am a middle child who needs sudden bursts of attention. This pattern is one I know to be true.

I also rode to Tommy Thompson Park and drank beers while my skin burned. Lesson has yet to be learned.

30 Minute Playlist: Ritual 2