With ritual, your consciousness is being re-minded of the wisdom of your own life

Issue #270 of the Better Humans Daily. Subscribe here for inspiration and knowledge. [Tony Stubblebine](coachtony?source=email-c7f27b30bfea-1659531433495-newsletter.subscribeToProfile-7038e003d060------------------------5156b6aa_131d_4e1d_a84a_0a6916fcba71--------de6e5ad096a9)[Tony Stubblebine](coachtony?source=email-c7f27b30bfea-1659531433495-newsletter.subscribeToProfile-7038e003d060------------------------5156b6aa_131d_4e1d_a84a_0a6916fcba71--------de6e5ad096a9) in [Better Humans](   ∙  3 min read   ∙  [View on Medium]( [Post image] With ritual, your consciousness is being re-minded of the wisdom of your own life Issue #270 of the Better Humans Daily. [Subscribe here]( for inspiration and knowledge. ··· A ritual is the enactment of a myth. And, by participating in the ritual, you are participating in the myth. And since myth is a projection of the depth wisdom of the psyche, by participating in a ritual, participating in the myth, you are being, as it were, put in accord with that wisdom, which is the wisdom that is inherent within you anyhow. Your consciousness is being re-minded of the wisdom of your own life. ~ Joseph Campbell ··· Rituals don’t need to be perfect. I had the hardest time marking my new job at Medium with a celebration simply because Sarah (my partner) and I couldn’t figure out which moment counted at the milestone moment when I’d actually gotten the job. There was a Thursday where the people interviewing me changed tones and started talking like the job was mine. There was a Tuesday where Ev, the main decision maker, asked me something that had very strong implications. Then two days later when I got an offer letter. Then two weeks later when I signed an employment contract. Then the day I was actually on the payroll. But by then, I was in San Francisco and Sarah was still in New York. My impulse on big deals is to walk the deal all the way to fully closed. I had a bad business experience in the past where I almost lost a fundraising deal in between offer letter and wire transfer. So I’m paranoid about deals falling apart. Now that the job has started it’s been a whirlwind with very little time to think (that’ll change). So when I look back on the need for a ritual to mark the transition from one job to the next, I see a simple decision that worked out. Sarah and I said, screw it, there isn’t going to be a perfect moment. So let’s just go out to dinner, sit in some restaurant’s backyard patio, and sit with the weight of this change. I look back on that decision with gratitude. Nothing about the restaurant or food was perfect or well thought out. But it did work as a ritual. We sat there, together, asking each other how our lives would change. (If you can’t tell, I think this job is a really big deal) That night we performed the ritual of the celebration dinner. It wasn’t perfect, but rituals don’t need to be perfect to work. May you give yourself permission to have more imperfect rituals. ··· More on “the disease of done.” In the last issue when I talked about this concept I was hoping someone would give me the canonical example. I think [Larry Cornett, Ph.D.]( dit it: One I hear all the time: “I want to get back in shape.” In shape? Like it’s a plateau of health and fitness you can reach, and then rest and coast. Health and fitness require consistent daily habits for the rest of your life. Once you reach adulthood, it’s a physical decline from that point forward. It’s a daily battle to slow that decline as much as you can. There is no “done” state of “back in shape.” ··· Shoot, what am I to do with TikTok Tuesday? Long time readers either remember fondly or remember with confusion how I insisted on sending a Tuesday edition of the newsletter out that was entirely focused on supposedly life changing TikToks. I do still believe that a good TikTok can hit you at a level that a long form tutorial can’t. So here’s a collection. Think differently about aging with this [106-year-old swimmer]( and [Bill Russell doing kettlebells]( (RIP). This though was the one that stuck with me: [the disorienting nature of the seriousness of our news paired with the trivialities we are often asked to deal with at work](. ··· I’m still navigating the balance between being a writer on Medium and being the CEO of Medium. I think they are mostly different things. And so I’m writing this for people who still see me as Coach Tony, huge nerd about all things self-improvement. [Reply to this story](mailto:tony+newsletter@tonystubblebine.com?subject=Re: With ritual, your consciousness is being re-minded of the wisdom of your own life)[View story]( Sent to {EMAIL} by Tony Stubblebine on Medium [Unsubscribe]( from this writer’s Medium emails Medium, 548 Market St, PMB 42061, San Francisco, CA 94104[Careers]( Center]( Policy]( of service](