Wearing odd socks when giving a presentation, because thinking of something silly helps keep nerves under control.
Being sure to peel the skin off an apple in one long piece when making a pie to maximise the flavour.
Drinking morning coffee from a favourite cup after a specific preparation process to bring good luck to the whole day.
Rituals harness an unearthly force, anchor us and help us feel safe.
The power is in believing.
In generations past, they abounded – family dinner on a Wednesday, church on a Sunday, eating a particular meal while wearing a specific hat every birthday.
They gave a rhythm to the year and put a firm foundation under our feet.
Today, we are all about individuality, breaking moulds and personal choices.
We have mass communication but lack community.
For all our social media friends, we lack real connection.
Rituals are seen as outdated, but their absence is part of the reason so many feel lost and adrift.
Happily at Easter, whether a person is religious or not, ritual comes to the fore: a camping spot revisited annually and marked the same way; a particular meal cooked in a certain manner on Easter Sunday; an egg-shaped chocolate cracked open while singing a ditty at morning tea.
These things nourish us in profound ways.
Psychologists say personal, religious and cultural rituals are important because they offer structure, reduce anxiety, grow social connection, help us connect with our values and find meaning in life.
They say that although the content may vary, rituals generally have three things in common: consistency of behaviours during the ritual and across time; a symbolic meaning that goes beyond the actions practised during the ritual; and non functional behaviours – that is, the action of a ritual is not intrinsically linked to its main purpose.
The third point distinguishes ritual from routine.
Routine might be stretching before running to avoid injury, but ritual is putting socks on in a particular order and listening to the same starting song for added confidence and focus.
Rituals may seem odd, silly or superstitious.
But when times are uncertain and winds of change blow, rituals settle and calm.
There should be more of them, I say. They make us gloriously, wonderfully human.
Happy Easter.
Dr Jane Stephens is a UniSC journalism lecturer, media commentator and writer. The opinions expressed are those of the author. These are not the views of the publishers.
