A timely, groundbreaking guide to enhancing the rituals in our lives, which helps people to enrich their relationships and reestablish their family ties. The coauthors of Rituals in Families and Family Therapy show how to create meaningful rituals adapted to individual lives and family structures, for new meaning in old and new traditions and celebrating life's milestones.

The long-awaited first short story-collection by the author of the cult sensation Convenience Store Woman, tales of weird love, heartfelt friendships, and the unsettling nature of human existence With Life Ceremony, the incomparable Sayaka Murata is back with her first collection of short stories ever to be translated into English. In Japan, Murata is particularly admired for her short stories, which are sometimes sweet, sometimes shocking, and always imbued with an otherworldly imagination and uncanniness. In these twelve stories, Murata mixes an unusual cocktail of humor and horror to portray both the loners and outcasts as well as turning the norms and traditions of society on their head to better question them. Whether the stories take place in modern-day Japan, the future, or an alternate reality is left to the reader’s interpretation, as the characters often seem strange in their normality in a frighteningly abnormal world. In “A First-Rate Material,” Nana and Naoki are happily engaged, but Naoki can’t stand the conventional use of deceased people’s bodies for clothing, accessories, and furniture, and a disagreement around this threatens to derail their perfect wedding day. “Lovers on the Breeze” is told from the perspective of a curtain in a child’s bedroom that jealously watches the young girl Naoko as she has her first kiss with a boy from her class and does its best to stop her. “Eating the City” explores the strange norms around food and foraging, while “Hatchling” closes the collection with an extraordinary depiction of the fractured personality of someone who tries too hard to fit in. In these strange and wonderful stories of family and friendship, sex and intimacy, belonging and individuality, Murata asks above all what it means to be a human in our world and offers answers that surprise and linger.

FROM BEGINNING TO END Why "rituals"? My thinking was set in motion by those who, knowing I was a parish minister for many years, have asked me for advice about ceremonies and celebrations. They wanted words to use at graduations, funerals, and the welcoming of children. They inquired about grace at family meals, the reaffirmation of wedding vows, and ways to heal wounds suffered in personal conflict. People requested help with the rituals of solitude, such as meditation, prayer, and contemplation. . . . Rituals do not always involve words, occasions, officials, or an audience. Rituals are often silent, solitary, and self-contained. The most powerful rites of passage are reflective--when you look back on your life again and again, paying attention to the rivers you have crossed and the gates you have opened and walked on through, the thresholds you have passed over. I see ritual when people sit together silently by an open fire. Remembering. As human beings have remembered for thousands and thousands of years. FULGHUM

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A special 25th anniversary edition of the beloved book that has changed millions of lives with the story of an unforgettable friendship, the timeless wisdom of older generations, and healing lessons on loss and grief—featuring a new afterword by the author “A wonderful book, a story of the heart told by a writer with soul.”—Los Angeles Times “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.” Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was his college professor Morrie Schwartz. Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn’t you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger? Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final “class”: lessons in how to live. “The truth is, Mitch,” he said, “once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie’s lasting gift with the world.

Within these pages, celebrated Native American writer Gabriel Horn weaves a hauntingly beautiful tapestry of traditional stories, songs, and prayers that highlight the sacred Native way of life. Interwoven throughout this visionary work are detailed ceremonies and rituals for: Marriage, Pregnancy, Birth, Greeting the Day, Death Divorce, Presenting an Infant to the Sun, Dreams and Visions Solstice and Equinox, Healing, and more... The Book of Ceremonies is filled with the heartfelt words of a powerful writer and the original illustrations of Carises Horn, a talented young artist. All of us who live on this sacred land will enjoy and treasure this beautiful book. Celebrated Native American writer Gabriel Horn weaves a beautiful tapestry of stories and short pieces that show us the sacred Native way of life. The writing is beautiful and emotional throughout. It is the work of a talented writer who has walked the native path for years, and is able to show us the native way in all aspects of life. The Book of Ceremonies offers clear explanations of a wide variety of ceremonies.

Parting Ways explores the emergence of new end-of-life rituals in America that celebrate the dying and reinvent the roles of family and community at the deathbed. Denise Carson contrasts her father’s passing in the 1980s, governed by the structures of institutionalized death, with her mother’s death some two decades later. Carson’s moving account of her mother’s dying at home vividly portrays a ceremonial farewell known as a living wake, showing how it closed the gap between social and biological death while opening the door for family and friends to reminisce with her mother. Carson also investigates a variety of solutions--living funerals, oral ethical wills, and home funerals--that revise the impending death scenario. Integrating the profoundly personal with the objectively historical, Parting Ways calls for an "end of life revolution" to change the way of death in America.

Ceremony as therapy Formal ceremonies seem to be universal in human experience, addressing something very deep and basic in the human psyche. They tap into that vast subconscious reservoir of wisdom and strength that every human being possesses. To these qualities ceremonies add their own understandings of life and of God. They emphasize the presence of God in all things. The important transitions in our lives inevitably create anxietyeven happy transitions, such as weddings. We move from the familiar to the unknown. Our role in the community may change, which means that we will be treated differently. Sometimes it is our own sense of who we are that changes. We seek to live differently. All of these changes have an anxiety of their own. Ceremonies use the languages of the heartmetaphor, poetry, meditation, music, liturgy, and dramato address those anxieties. Bypassing the sterility of logic and analysis, a ceremony evokes the power to affirm and to heal that straightforward rational communication cannot touch. A ceremony has the quality of set-apartness. Something special is happening! Words spoken in a ceremony will have much more impact than those same words would have in a more ordinary context. A ceremony brings new perspective to things with which we struggle. Many ceremonies enlist the support of one’s community. The leader often represents one’s spiritual tradition, and other members of the community may be present. Even if the ceremony is done in the privacy of one’s home or of a therapist’s or pastor’s office, others are present in the participant’s imagination. Ceremonies also involve God, whose presence is acknowledged and whose blessing and support are assured. The ceremonies presented here are down-to-earth and practical. They can easily be adapted to many situations, and can stimulate the reader to create his/her own ceremonies to meet the unique needs of the persons to whom he/she ministers. Some of the ceremonies in this book are for use in a public place: weddings funerals a ceremony for grieving Others are more private, for use in a pastor’s/therapist’s office or in one’s home: adoption funeral for an aborted baby support for a rape survivor the commitment to stop smoking addressing children’s phobias leaving home forgiving another person forgiving oneself and more This book is a first! Not just a discussion about ceremonies, but a collection of ceremonies addressing a wide variety of situations! It will be innovative and insightful reading for pastors, therapists, and others for whom the languages of analysis and logic are not enough.

Native American elder, Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow), shares his insights about the importance of ceremony. He explains the aspects of ceremony - Intention and commitment, purification, fasting, sound, drumming and dancing. He explains how each of these elements connects us with Spirit and shows us how to construct powerful ceremonies for ourselves and our community.

Discover 67 Little Known Morning Ritual Habits For Creating An Unstoppable Day!Your morning ritual is what sets you up for having a successful day. It's one of the most important habits to cultivate, as it'll set the precedent of how your day will look. As the saying goes, "How you start the day is how you'll end the day."I believe that a successful morning ritual consists of doing at least one thing for your Body, Mind, and Spirit. You must give equal attention to all three aspects of yourself in order to maximize your performance and fulfillment.I've been practicing morning rituals since I was 17 years old. It's one of the most important habits that has shaped every aspect of my life. It's an opportunity for me to give the most valuable resource we have, our time, to myself so that I can grow to become my very best.Most people the day out of reaction. They wake up and they're immediately hitting the snooze. They are flooded with the stresses and anxieties of the day, immediately checking their inbox or social media. As a result, they're not getting the most out of themselves or the day.Over the last 15 years of my life, I've studied the habits of the most remarkable people throughout history. Those who have achieved extraordinary success, are truly fulfilled, have unstoppable confidence, an abundance of energy, are physically fit, and what anyone would consider "having it all."I've studied their habits and rituals and put them together for you in this book, 67 Morning Ritual Habits For Your Body, Mind, And Spirit so that you can benefit from them.I've personally tested and utilized ALL of these rituals in different stages of my life with incredible benefit. I'm excited to finally share them with you so that you can reap the rewards of cultivating an amazing morning ritual in your life that allows you to be at your best.