We don't follow any particular religion around here. Except maybe the religion of living a good, meaningful, engaged life. Don't need no priest or preacher or Big Daddy in the sky to make that work.
We figure we can pick and choose the best tidbits from all the major religions, and philosophers, and thinkers, and other minds, from all walks of life to forge some meaning, purpose, fire, joy, happiness, intelligence for our day to day living.
Life doesn't need any justification. It just is. May as well live as best we can, in our allotted time. Yesterday was all about our own, homemade rituals. We had no appointments, nothing we had to do.
So what did we do? A long series of ritualistic actions. Filled up the day: Coffee time, listened to the radio, wrote in my blog, worked on song, meditated, a long rambling walk on the lakefront, lunch, clean-up time (brooms, mops, Meyer's All Purpose Cleaner), watched a movie ("Snowpiercer") read my M. John Harrison book "Nova Swing." It was a pretty full day.
We did all of these activities as if they were like the "stations of the cross." You know, pivotal, important, richly meaningful actions. And by thinking of them that way, by investing concentrated energy into them, they were transformed. Just as we were transformed.
I was the DJ too. We blasted the music on the big stereo in the living room, and then on the little stereo in kitchen. The soundtrack really was amazing: George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass," (1970), John Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band," (1970), "Steel & Glass," (1974), and "Mind Games." (1973). Major works of art. Almost "holy" relics. Magnificent. So important to us. So lively. So intelligent. Big, over-stuffed records about the essential, important things. So life-affirming, fun, engaging. I must say John Lennon's voice has always hit me right in the solar plexus. So powerful & compelling. This music never fails to speak to us, even these many years later.