Half Term Rituals

This image popped up on my timeline recently from a friend. It pretty much sums up my Half Term vibe. Relaxed Autumn days, wet underfoot and slippery with leaves. There may be afternoon coffee and cake, fresh air and exercise, a bit of half-hearted Christmas shopping and some store cupboard cooking going on too. I'm heading out to buy ingredients for the Christmas cake today and by the end of the month the pantry will be replenished with a stock of apple chutney, quince jelly and onion marmalade. Some of those goodies will make it into Christmas hampers for friends. A week of welldoing. Good for me, good for the local shops and good for my family.

Of course, now that I'm no longer in the classroom I don't need to complete all these tasks in Half Term, which curiously in these parts this years seems to be straddling two weeks. Old habits die hard. It got me thinking about the importance of ritual, family tradition and seasonality. There's a comfort in spending these few days in October doing familiar things. One of the most important features of rituals is that they do not only mark time; they create time. Time to connect, time to reflect, time to slow down and take control.