How to Add Consciousness and Intention to Your Celebrations
image via @tuulavintage
By Sara Bacon
I am a sucker for a party and a chance to celebrate. Always have been, always will be. I love the anticipation, the prep for parties, the chance to get dressed up, the bringing together of loved ones, and the honor of making someone feel celebrated and affirmed (or the gift of receiving this myself!).
Celebrating just feels good to me, and the older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve come to appreciate the actual importance of celebrating a milestone, an achievement, a closing of a chapter, or the start of a new one. Ceremonies and rituals are a healthy and necessary part of our humanity and a way for us to create closure, cement promises (to ourselves or others), and celebrate renewal or new life. They’ve been a part of different societies and cultures since the beginning of time and they’re not going anywhere. But it’s also not hard to see how we’ve gotten a little off track with the emphasis on certain celebrations, and have neglected to include milestones that should absolutely be worthy of celebration.
The other day I was talking with a girlfriend about a ceremony she asked her friends to participate in with her to mark her move from one city to the next. The detailed blessing and honoring of what she gained and will be carrying forward from her current chapter, mixed with the wish-casting and dream-creating for her next chapter, all marked by different rituals and prompts, were so incredibly beautiful. I couldn’t help but think about every small and big transition in my life I wanted to start marking and honoring with such intentionality.
We then talked about how these kinds of ceremonies are missing from our lives today. We throw housewarming parties and going away parties and birthday parties and bridal and baby showers and we’re definitely not suffering from a lack of excuses to throw parties. But what are we actually gaining from these besides some presents and fun memories with friends? (Not that those are bad things). How could we deepen these times even more and walk away with gifts our souls can delight in on top of the material gifts? Here are just a few ideas of ways we could add intention and depth to events we’re attending:
Baby showers: Share blessings over the parents to be, prayers and wishes for strength as they enter this new stage of life. Affirmations for the new babe about to enter the world.
Housewarming: Invite a few close friends over to do a house blessing ceremony where you clear the energy of the home (using crystals, sage, palo santo, etc.), and set intentions for how you’d like the space to be used. Visualize how you’d like the energy of your home to be, and set that intention with a designated object as a reminder every time you look at it.
Bridal shower/Engagement party/Bachelorette: As close friends to the bride and/or couple, allow time to go around and affirm your commitment to walking alongside them in this chapter. Affirm them for the love and gifts you already see in them. Ask the impact they’d like their relationship to have on the world around them and bless those intentions.
Birthdays: Hear the birthday person’s wishes and goals for the coming year. Affirm and cement those wishes with a ceremony of your choice. Ask what things they’d like to leave behind from the previous year, perhaps write these down and have them burned ceremoniously (and safely). These practices could also be done by anyone on New Years as well.
These are just some generic suggestions to at least get your mind thinking about ways you can transform a standard celebration into a more intentional and meaningful experience by spending time honoring the person/couple/baby in a way that adds more depth and love to their life and that honors the passage of time from one chapter to the next in a way that will be life-giving and memorable.
When coming up with your own ceremonies and rituals, here are a few questions you can ask to help guide them:
How can I honor the past before this point and cement the things I’ve learned up til now?
What parts of my past or lies about myself or this upcoming chapter/role do I want to let go of? What’s not serving me and how can I remove that from my body and my beliefs? (consider writing these things out and burning up the paper or tearing it up into pieces, etc.)
How can I affirm myself or the honoree for where they’re at in this point of their life? What qualities or attributes can I highlight and celebrate them for?
What goals or intentions do you have for this next phase of your life and/or role? What are you hoping to get out of it? Who are you hoping to become because of it? Can you write these down or speak them out and share them with those close to you in a ceremony or celebration?
What are you proud of yourself for? What would you most like to have celebrated in this moment and how can you invite others in to it? Can you look for things worth celebrating in the lives of your loved ones and offer to host or create a celebration for them in the same way?
This is such a beautiful life and there are so many wonderful things worth celebrating. Why not grow in consciousness and depth every time we do? If you decide to incorporate any of these ideas into your life or events, tag them with #hidefcelebrations so we can see and celebrate along with you.
*Cheers with intention*
