Robin Wall Kimmerer writes in Braiding Sweetgrass (yes, I’m quoting her again!) that “ceremonies are the way we remember to remember” and that their power lies in how they “marry the mundane to the sacred.” When daily life is touched by ritual, even the ordinary takes on a sacred quality—linking us more deeply to ourselves, to one another, and to the living world. Yet in today’s fast-moving culture, rituals often hold less presence and importance. At the same time, it feels like we’ve never needed them more. Rituals can anchor us, restore connection, and offer a quiet form of support for mental health and well-being.
I felt the power of ritual most recently at my boys’ summer camp in Minnesota. Parents were invited to join in the weekend’s activities, and on the final evening we gathered around a fire (pic below!) One of the senior campers started the fire (without matches!) —just as generations had done before. It took several attempts before the flame finally caught, but once it did, the fire became the heart of the Grand Council ceremony. Boys as young as seven and men in their twenties circled and danced, honoring the Indigenous peoples who had danced long before them. The drums, the chants, the firelight—it all stirred something deep, something I imagine was felt by everyone there.
