Magic Sausage and Meaningful Rituals

The Minnesota Twins is one of the hottest teams in Major League Baseball right now and, if you ask players, they credit the sausage. 
 
The Cloverdale summer tangy sausage was introduced into the dugout last week.  Wrapped in now-fraying packaging, the sausage also travels with the team to away games.  It is part of a number of rituals:  some players touch it for good luck before going up to bat, others chuck it at teammates after they make a great play.
 
Rituals.  They show up in sports traditions:  lucky socks, special cheers, and summer sausage.  A ritual is an embodied practice, performed in the same way, that leads to deeper truths.

Which leads me to a question that I ask, often, in my work at Handle w/ Care Consulting:  do you have a meaningful ritual to mark the end of your work day?
 
When I talk with workers who’ve moved to remote work, I don’t hear them saying that they miss their commute.  After all, gas is expensive and the summer construction season is right around the corner.
 
However, they do miss what the commute offered them:  a time to decelerate from all the pressures of the day.
 
Whether they were tuning into a podcast, blasting T-Swift, or just sitting in silence, it was time transition to their life outside of work.
 
In the work from home life, the distance between the two spaces is crossed by walking through a doorway. 

Always On
Add to this our devices that can keep us instantly (and constantly) aware of every email and text and you can be working (or at least thinking about work) from the movement that you turn off your alarm and check your phone to the moment that you are brushing your teeth at night…and still checking your phone.
 
This is not sustainable.  We (and every created thing) function best in rhythms of rest and productivity.  We deprive ourselves of true rest by never truly disconnecting from work.
 
Types of Rituals
Which is where rituals are helpful.  For some people, it is shutting the door of their office and practicing the discipline to not go in again until the next day.  For others, it is putting their laptop in a desk drawer.
 
Some people walk their dog every day at 5, knowing that the neighborhood walkabout is the end of the workday.  I’ve been reading a chapter of Harry Potter (we are on Book 7) to my daughter, Jemima and that is a sign to me that my work has ended.  During the summer, I like to have a cup of kombucha with Moses at the end of the day.
 
The best rituals are embodied and repeatable; what is a ritual that you can begin this week?  Bonus points if you find a way to incorporate a lucky Cloverdale sausage!

Podcast Recommendation

“How can you be depressed? You are the life of the party!”

Paul Ashley has lived in the reality of depression as well as people’s misunderstanding of the disease since he was seventeen years old.

Paul speaks about misconceptions and stigma, about feeling overwhelmed and debilitated, and about what helps him to move beyond a depressive season. His insights as a father, partner, and businessman are both vulnerable and insightful.

Here are 3 take-aways:

1). If someone confides in you about their depression, listen and resist the urge to say something that minimizes their disclosure.

Paul was especially triggered by statements like “But you are always so happy!” Which leads to my second point...

2). Depression can take all different forms.

A person that is often “on” in their job function can be absolutely exhausted at home. Widening our perception of what depression looks like (and how debilitating it can be) will go a long way to breaking down the stigmas that promote a culture of silence.

3). If you know someone that is struggling with depression, regularly checking in with them can be really important.

Remember, as you make contact with them, they might not respond initially, you might need to continue checking in.

As Paul said, coming alongside them and doing something that they have enjoyed in the past or just showing up to be with them, even if that means not talking for awhile, can powerfully show support.

My recommendation, this week, is to pick up a novel written by someone whose identity/perspective differs from yours. 

There is something powerful about immersing yourself in a story.  It sidesteps all of the questions/analysis that often hangs us up in interactions and lets you just take in someone else's perspective. 

Homegoing is a sprawling work by Yaa Gyasi, which traces the family lines of two sisters whose life journeys diverge from Ghana over eight generations.  High recommend.