The rite way

This week's blog post has been written by Associate Chaplain, Geoffrey Baines.

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Image of a black, white and yellow doodle with text on the left hand side of the image which reads: well, I'm not very good, but I got to 3,000 - for what it's worth (probably not a lot, but that's okay) and tomorrow I'll be here again

This is a simple encouragement to wrap whatever you find that you must do into a ritual and keep on going.

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Image of a black and white doodle with text in the middle of the image which reads: Curiosity isn't a luxury, it's a necessity

 

And if there is any way I can help, let me know.

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Image of a black and white doodle with different shapes, to the right hand side is a drawing of a person with text beside the figure. The text reads: wherever you are is always a starting point

 

I posted my three thousandth blog and doodle for Thin|Silence today.  In 2014, I’d set out to post a blog and doodle every day for a year.

 

By the end of the year, I realised that I hadn’t made myself a habit, but I’d formed a ritual, as Ryan Holiday more recently summed up for me:

 

Routine, done for long enough and done sincerely enough, becomes more than routine.  It becomes ritual - it becomes sanctified and holy.*

 

I understand what mythologist Joseph Campbell meant when he wrote:

 

A ritual is an enactment of a myth.  By participating in a ritual, you are participating in a myth.**

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Image of black and white doodles around a blue centre. In the centre of the doodle is a drawing of a man in a yellow top. To the left hand side of the image is text which reads: If you build it, you will come

Our rituals are where we give expression to our stories about what it is we feel we must bring into the world for the sake of others - many of the thoughts I’m exploring feed into my dreamwhispering work.

 

I’ve included some of my favourite doodles since the beginning of this year, and whilst these all start life accompanying a body of text, these are possibly able to stand alone.

 

I’d love to hear about the things you must do.

 

 

*From Ryan Holiday’s Stillness is the Key;

**From Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers’ The Power of Myth.

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A black and white doodle, at the top right hand corner of the drawing there is a circle with the colours of the Ukrainian . The

 

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White, black and blue doodle. Text above and below the shapes reads: I realise I shouldn't be here and that fills me with wonder

 

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White, black and green doodle. In the centre of the image is a doodle of a person, surrounded by different shapes. To the left hand side of the image the text reads: what if everything you are is enough?

 

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Black and white doodle. At the top of the image is a thick black line drawn through the doodles. The text above reads: what matters most lies beneath the surface

 

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Black and white doodle showing a person. Above the person is a though bubble showing themselves with hair. To the left of the image the text reads: sometimes he dreamt of having hair for the wind to blow through

 

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Black and white doodle with a yellow coloured shape across the centre of the doodles. To the bottom of the doodle the text reads: beauty will save the world (fyodor dostoeusky)

 

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Black and white doodle with a yellow coloured circle in the centre of the image. Below the doodle is text that reads: Humility is food for the soul

 

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Black, white a blue doodle with text on the left hand side of the image which reads: May I finish my days with joy

 

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Black and white doodle, in the centre of the doodle shapes is a yellow and red circle. The text at the bottom of the doodle reads: this moment is wonderful

 

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Black, white and pink doodle of a person and different shapes around him. At the bottom of the image the text reads: the unknown was calling and it knew his name

 

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Black and white doodle with text at the top of the image which reads: Open is my favourite thing

 

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An image of a doodle of a person with lines coming out of the top of their head, on the left hand side of the image is the text: Dam! I keep forgetting I have an inside as well as an outside