For Small Creatures Such as We

I just finished Sasha Sagan’s “For Small Creatures Such as We” Rituals and Reflections for finding wonder. The book is exploring seasonal traditions, rituals and well as celebrations around life events such as birth, coming of age, weddings and death. It’s a lovely read, outlining a myriad of traditions of different cultures and religions and interweaving them with Sasha Sagan’s personal secular rituals and life stories. It included a lot of thought-provoking reflections on her upbringing, her family and the death of her father Carl Sagan.

I found the book very inspiring and I made me reflect a lot on my own little rituals, like starting the day with a meditation and 90 min of undistracted work, going for a Curiosity Walk over lunch to clear my head or celebrating Sunday Night Feast our weekly potluck dinner with friends to mark the end of the week and start of a new one. Sagan is also celebrating the winter solstice, which is tonight if you are in the Southern Hemisphere. Tonight marks the longest night of the year. “It is something to remind us that darkness is not forever” Let’s hope that our days will get brighter than in the first half of 2020.

Rituals are important because according to Sagan, “Rituals are, among other things, tools that help us process change.” and there is a lot of change and uncertainty at the moment.