Ok....so post holiday I have been thinking a lot about community and being together with friends and family. I have been thinking of all the times my family gathers around the dinner table to eat, laugh, share, vent, argue, eat and laugh some more. It's our way. Ok, we're Greek Macedonian and that really is sort of genetic...like our Italian cousins across the river....but it's more than that. It's us...being us individually, but together.
Bringing our hopes, dreams, memories, fears...all to the table. When I was younger, we weren't texting, we couldn't get phone calls every moment of every day, we didn't live in front of the TV and my parents didn't live to work. It was different....we still did dinner together, but now it seems more important to perform this ritual. To be all together for a moment. To see each other across the table, taste wonderful foods, laugh at ridiculous jokes and ourselves, to remember great times past and dream about what is to come....to take a moment away from running every which way to just BE together.
Because I can't get this as often as I'd like with my family, I have discovered other ways of ritual that bring me together with people. I knit. Seriously, is there anything more community? It's a craft and ritual as old as time. People getting together to knit, spin, crochet, stitch anything...talk and eat....to be present in the moment, enjoying the company...learning and sharing. I cook. I bring people in to eat. (it's another Greek thing). Sometimes I just go to a movie...alone....with a bunch of other people. We laugh together, cry together, eat popcorn together and although we don't know each other....for a moment, we have been a part of a ritual that brings us together.
Look around you. These rituals are a part of our everyday lives and we often miss them. They give us a places to be playful, to explore the meaning of our lives and to experience something new and wonderful. Take a moment to see them, to acknowledge where you are, who is with you and how it feels to be together.
Bringing our hopes, dreams, memories, fears...all to the table. When I was younger, we weren't texting, we couldn't get phone calls every moment of every day, we didn't live in front of the TV and my parents didn't live to work. It was different....we still did dinner together, but now it seems more important to perform this ritual. To be all together for a moment. To see each other across the table, taste wonderful foods, laugh at ridiculous jokes and ourselves, to remember great times past and dream about what is to come....to take a moment away from running every which way to just BE together.
Because I can't get this as often as I'd like with my family, I have discovered other ways of ritual that bring me together with people. I knit. Seriously, is there anything more community? It's a craft and ritual as old as time. People getting together to knit, spin, crochet, stitch anything...talk and eat....to be present in the moment, enjoying the company...learning and sharing. I cook. I bring people in to eat. (it's another Greek thing). Sometimes I just go to a movie...alone....with a bunch of other people. We laugh together, cry together, eat popcorn together and although we don't know each other....for a moment, we have been a part of a ritual that brings us together.
Look around you. These rituals are a part of our everyday lives and we often miss them. They give us a places to be playful, to explore the meaning of our lives and to experience something new and wonderful. Take a moment to see them, to acknowledge where you are, who is with you and how it feels to be together.
3 comments:
These are so beautiful - I'm fascinated and just want to reach in and touch the screen, like it'll yield the soft, airy texture of the visual! Wonderful, Christina!
You couldn't have described better how I feel about our meals and rituals together, Christina. Whether it's just you and me doing our own "picnic" or "coffee" rituals or the whole fam damily doing full dinner or even just the moms and us sharing recipes and cooking tips from generations past, these rituals define me as a woman. And the older I get, the more I enjoy taking part in the rituals - being with all of you makes me a better person, a wiser woman, a more loving mother, a smarter business person, a more giving wife, even allows me to like myself more. I am proud of my heritage, my family, my friends and those wonderful memories and rituals that you and I continue to cherish and follow. Thank you so much for writing about this. I love you and miss you so!!!
As always, I love your photography! The leaf in the water looks to me, with it's upturned points, as if it's gently swimming in it's back. Thanks for sharing!
Post a Comment