by Mary K. Glazer, Certified Life-cycle Celebrant®

I am a new certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® and it has taken some months for me to be ready to launch. One of the kick-starts came in a conversation with a friend. She also was wanting to launch an initiative of her own, so we each made a commitment to action and to holding each other accountable. Part of my commitment was to propose a class on ceremony and ritual to our community’s Lifelong Learning Program, a continuing education program that offers free or low-cost courses. I proposed the course and it was accepted. Here is the description:

Rituals are all around us, some obvious (weddings, for example), some not so apparent (your morning routine, perhaps). Some rituals are intentional, and some accidental. Ritual is often associated with a church, and many faith traditions are steeped in ritual. But ritual is bigger than religious practice, and certainly not limited to religion.

 Good ritual honors our personal story while simultaneously placing us into the bigger story of Life. In our time together, we will explore the meaning and components of ritual and ceremony. We will also take a look at some of the rituals that have been meaningful in our past, and notice which still have meaning today. In addition, we will take a look at the milestone moments in your life and you will have a chance to begin creating a ritual for one that is upcoming.

 I also had a table set up at the Lifelong Learning Program during the January Kick-Off. For that, I had handouts that included two rituals: a Morning Intention Ritual and an Evening Gratitude Ritual. One of the reasons I chose this action is because I knew it would be easy and that it had a high likelihood of success – two things I needed in order to get moving. I also knew that having this event on the calendar would spur me to get other important things done, such as choosing a business name, getting my website in order, and getting business cards. These are all things I most certainly need in place for my next steps, which include joining the Chamber of Commerce.

Mary completed her training at the Celebrant Foundation and Institute in late 2019 and is launching her Celebrant practice in Greenville, North Carolina.  You can find her at http://mkglazer.com/