Sunday Firesides: Your Routine Needs Rites of Passage

From the creator of Slay The Spire, a game that took over the world and made its player base feel like gods.

The “art of manliness ritual” is a way to transition into the new week. It’s also a way to get back in touch with your routine and ensure that it has a sense of passage.

During WWII, a soldier’s journey home may take up to two weeks, with days spent slowly going by ship across the Atlantic and by rail through the United States. He was able to relax, decompress, and transform his thinking from fighter to civilian along the way.

A soldier returning from Afghanistan can be on the front lines one day and with his family the next. Some say that sending contemporary warriors directly from operations to leave has led to reintegration issues and high PTSD rates.

It’s easy to overlook the significance of transitions, not only in the context of major shifts, but also in everyday situations.

We conceive of “rites of passage” — time, space, and ceremonial rituals that transition a person from one group, function, or status to another — as major, linear, one-time changes like moving from single to married.

But rites of passage may also be viewed of as little, back-and-forth pivots that you make on a daily basis.

Individuals must switch between many mindsets and wear multiple hats from dawn to dusk. We, on the other hand, have a tendency to swivel between them without making any genuine changes. As a consequence, we carry elements of our prior responsibilities with us, making it difficult to be completely present and involved in new ones.

Between awakening and going for work, I meditate. To transition from the workplace to the gym, put on sports clothing and take a preworkout drink. Shutting off one’s phone during family meal to turn off the monetary attitude. To distinguish the Sabbath day from Saturday, put on your Sunday best and listen to uplifting music. Before going to bed, I read a paperback novel by lantern light.

Including such rituals in your daily routine may help you transition between sleep and alertness, work and home, holy activities and ordinary routines — and back again — on our daily travels.