Tuesday, December 5, 2017

The Heart Within the Holidays




"Learning to choose loving rituals that work in your family, that are meaningful, relaxed, realistic and reasonable, is as important and as individual as each of us."


Traditions and rituals enrich our lives. According to our iPhone friend Siri, “a ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, and objects, performed in a sequestered place and performed according to set sequence. A tradition is a belief or behavior passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past.” 

The Holidays, especially Christmas, is a perfect example of rituals within traditions. There are family rituals that my mother performed to ensure our Christmas was special. She was a talented crafty lady who made many of our gifts. Baking began at least a month ahead of the 25th. There were so many cookies and squares and each of us had our favorites – like the decorated shortbreads or the cinnamon nut fingers. These delectables were kept in giant round tins that in days gone by had held reels of film. The homemade pies — scrumptious! Just mention butterscotch or lemon meringue on Christmas Eve and they would magically appear after you were stuffed with turkey. 

As a military family, we moved around a lot so home was wherever our PMQ (permanent married quarters) was! I admired the fact that mom kept in touch with several hundred people and took great pride in getting beautiful cards mailed with personal notes written in each. It became her custom to write one letter choc full of the family news over the past year to include in each card and my computer savvy Dad would copy it and print labels. We had a special Christmas drink my mother devised consisting of Welch’s grape juice and ginger ale. Countless hours were spent crocheting angels, bears and stars for the tree and stringing popcorn garland. Eating After Eights mints and snacking on Planter’s cashews while playing board games — pretty much a once a year specialty!

Mom’s passion for the festivities was passed down to me — some rituals I continued and some I created when I had children. Some of our best memories are tied to the repetition of these activities, like the setting up of the nativity scene or the assembly of the rotating brass angel candles year after year. Learning to bake the popular recipes for my family, sending cards, and heading to church Christmas Eve became cherished rituals. We looked forward to activities like traveling to my parents for the holidays, going to senior’s homes with my father and brother to play guitar and sing carols, and shopping for and making gifts for each other. But my favorite rituals always involved my children, presents they had wished for were only opened after their stockings and they ate their breakfast. Oh the anticipation — to relish their priceless delight on magical Christmas mornings.

These rituals, and so many more, have touched my heart, have formed fond memories for my daughters and continue to build our family connections. My three year old granddaughter is becoming familiar with some of the rituals our family still does, from decorating our homes to baking special treats. We are also endeavoring to instill in her the heart within the holidays by doing for others — gifting our time or our treasures in our community. Learning to choose loving rituals that work in your family, that are meaningful, relaxed, realistic and reasonable, is as important and as individual as each of us.

Marilyn Dion is a Life-Cycle Celebrant®, owner of Woven Words Ceremonies and the Canada East Alumni Mentor for the Celebrant Foundation & Institute.

The Celebrant Foundation & Institute (CF&I) is the preeminent online educational institute that teaches and certifies people as modern day ritual and ceremony professionals called Life-Cycle Celebrants®. Founded in 2001, the educational nonprofit organization headquartered in Montclair, NJ, is a member of the International Federation of Celebrants. To date, the CF&I has graduated nearly 1000 Life-Cycle Celebrants® who preside over 50,000 ceremonies each year throughout the world. To learn more about the CF&I, visit www.celebrantinstitute.org
Watch January 2017's Weddings with Zita (Zita Christian) with featured guest Elisa Chase, CF&I Academic Manager, discussing Ceremony, Rituals and the Celebrant Foundation & Institute.  

Please direct all request, comment or concerns about our CF&I Blog to our   Social Media Manager ~ Marcia Almeida, Master Life-Cycle Celebrant. at  celebrantsocialmedia@gmail.com    Or to the Celebrant Foundation & Institute’s director, Charlotte Eulette at: charlotteeulette@celebrantinstitute.org call us at (973)746-1792.  Visit us at http://www.celebrantinstitute.org/?p=business Non-profit Educational Organization

Celebrant Foundation & Institute

Official Member of the International Federation of Celebrants



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Life-Cycle Ceremonies: A Handbook for Your Whole Life 


How do you commemorate momentous events? Memorialize people who have shaped you? Draw support from those you hold dear? This primer offers methods for honoring the special occasions in your life with humor and grace. Its ceremonies help ground each day in the wholeness that supports our entire lives. Each ceremony has been vetted by a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® affiliated with the Celebrant Foundation and Institute, which offers training and support for celebrants worldwide. Visit us at www.celebrantInstitute.org.


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Resilience Art: A Grief Coloring Book Using Ritual and Music to Help You Grow is published by Mascot Books. During December, you can pre-order a copy and save 20%! The discount code is "coloring book"
To pre-order go here: https://mascotbooks.com/mascot-marketplace/buy-books/nonfiction/self-help-diy/resilience-art-grief-coloring-book-using-ritual-music-help-grow/.

"Dr. Elaine Voci's books aren't just books. They are emotional experiences and spiritual journeys. Resilience Art provides readers with Elaine's personal and professional life lessons combined with modern research to inspire and inform them that grief is highly individual, and that resilience is a part of their natural birthright. They are shown how to use the coloring book and incorporate intentional rituals and a selection of their favorite music to help them grow, and to integrate their loss. Locally, Elaine offers Resilience Art Workshops to accompany her unique book, adding value to and for readers beyond the boo"k.
- Erin Albert, MBA, PharmD, JD, PAHM is an author of 13 books, entrepreneur, pharmacist, podcaster, women’s advocate, and preceptor in the Indianapolis, IN area.


"Elaine’s eloquent writing brings her poignant experiences to celebrants and other readers together with meaningful storytelling, ritual, and solid research - all of which inspires us. As we move through and take part in this unique coloring book, a keen sense of awareness and gratitude for life resonates and stays with us. I especially love her beautiful way of encouraging those who grieve to gently trust their own process through the healing power of music and simple rituals. This vibrant and soul-exploring book, her latest work, is truly a gift to have, to hold and to share". - Charlotte Eulette is the International Director and co-founder of the pre-eminent Celebrant Foundation & Institute, a non-profit international educational organization that prepares people to become certified Life-Cycle Celebrants®.

#GriefArt #GriefColoring #GriefMusic #GriefRitual



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