This weekend was full of celebrations. Two toddler birthday parties and a Seder dinner.
I had never attended a Seder before, and what struck me most was how intentional it is. The same words, the same foods, the same questions asked every year, generation after generation. This particular one was the first time my friend had hosted in her new home, and at the end of the night, glowing with the success of it, she said: I want this to be an annual thing.
That one sentence stayed with me the whole way home.
It got me thinking. Do I have any rituals in my business that carry that kind of meaning? Or have I just been too deep in survival mode to build them?
A ritual, at its core, is a pause with intention. It is not just something you do repeatedly. It is something you do deliberately, to mark time, to create space, to remind yourself why any of it matters. Without the pause, you just keep going. And going. And going. Without ever stopping to ask whether you are moving in the right direction, or at the right speed.
I have always admired Nasrin, founder of Mixed by Nasrin, for her practice of taking quarterly getaways to step away from the business and brainstorm. It is a beautiful ritual, and it makes complete sense. Creativity does not thrive under pressure. It thrives when your nervous system finally exhales. When you are not in fight or flight mode, ideas come differently. Easier, clearer, and from a deeper place.
So where am I right now? Nowhere near that. I have been in survival mode long enough that the idea of a quarterly getaway feels laughable, if I am being honest. Two toddlers, a production cycle, a pop-up schedule, and a laundry list of to-dos stand between me and any kind of stillness.
But here is what I am starting to understand. Rituals do not have to be grand to be meaningful. They just have to be protected.
Maybe my version of a quarterly getaway is an afternoon at the spa with my notebook. A few hours where no one needs anything from me, where my phone is in a locker somewhere, and where my brain is finally quiet enough to think about what KAEIU needs next. Small, but intentional. Mine.
I do not have it all figured out yet. But I think this is the year I start building the rituals, instead of waiting until I have more time, more money, or more energy. Because that version of me who has all three is not coming. She is already here, just a little tired.
Here’s to building the pause into the plan.
With love,
Maria
The dinner that sparked the intention for a ritual.