Rituals and the cultivation of sweet joy
In my relationship with Tony we have cultivated rituals from day one. Those acts and gestures you might take in the early days of a flushed-with-excitement-love, and then slowly drop as the relationship matures.
These acts and gestures are sacred to me and to us.
When my love leaves the coffee shop (where we met) in the morning to go to work, I watch him until he disappears. He turns and waves to me, knowing I will be watching him, a profound trust in this act.
We speak of our love as the first spoken words in the morning.
When Tony gets home I greet him as if I had not seen him for weeks, dropping what I am doing and getting up to hug him at the door, a child’s excitement true in me. (Along with our dog Milly, who demonstrates this excitement with every arrival.)
These small acts celebrate the miracle we both feel in our mature age found love. Yet they also affirm, every day, the preciousness of life.
To marvel each day at the sunrise. Unique in her costume. Refusing to become mundane. At the pleasure of a fresh mango. The feel of bare feet on sand. The touch of warm sunshine on your back on a cool day.
Life can sweep us up in busy. And in that, lose us to the simple and precious. To cultivate small rituals that serve to remind us of life’s magnificence is to cultivate sweet joy.
Photo taken March 7th 2021