I’m interested in rituals for everyday life… rituals for letting go, acknowledging, celebrating and grieving…

Yesterday morning I said goodbye to the house I lived in from late primary school until I finished high school. Since then it has been my Mum’s house and my family ‘home’. I went into each room and stood for a few minutes in each space. I just stood, not trying to remember anything, just choosing to be right there in that moment and soaking in the sense of place. Outside in the back yard I faced the house and spent a few minutes doing a simple body prayer.

On my flight back to Melbourne I had a song (Katie Noonan / Elixir’s cover of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) stuck in my head. I was feeling really grateful for my family and that I even have a home to say goodbye to and so for a bit of fun I wrote some memories of my old home in the form of lyrics to the tune of the chorus…

Goodbye Terrace my home
Where the Mums and the Kellys did roam
Your roof top fire’s gone out now
Pool tennis balls have been thrown
Back from dinner it’s card game time
Coffee’s brewed on the stove
The walls still don’t quite reach the ceiling
But we love you so Cadell clo-o-ose Oooo OOo OOO ooo oo.

Later in the day I mentioned my in-flight activity to a friend who thought I said I had composed lyrics to the tune of Follow the Yellow Brick Road from the Wizard of Oz! It certainly does add something singing it with a munchkin-land voice… very silly! Not quite what I had in mind but it works. Haha!

The lyrics contain a few in-jokes… Kelly was the name of our dog who died a few years ago, fire on the roof refers to the time my brother and his friends in all their teenage wisdom decided it would be a good idea to to light a fire in a small metal bin while mucking around on the roof. They didn’t manage to set the house alight but they did freak out our next door neighbours. It’s feels good to remember random stuff like that.

In the afternoon yesterday I was hit with another wave of sadness about the fact that I would not be returning to a place that’s been part of my family for 17 years…

My new friend and colleague, Melbourne-based arts educator / storyteller, Julie Perrin recommended an activity that she said can be helpful for processing and saying goodbye to a home. I haven’t tried it yet but the idea is to draw a picture of the floor plan of your house, add in furniture, outdoor spaces, colours, and if you want to, draw or write in memories of things that have taken place in different parts of the house.

I love this idea and am fascinated by simple rituals like this that allow us to acknowledge and reflect on significant changes or milestones as they unfold. 

Have you or has someone you know found a simple way to acknowledge, process, celebrate or mourn an event or milestone?

If so, I’d love to hear about it. Share it in the comments on this post or if you’d prefer you could email me at papiercat[at]gmail.com (yes there is a letter i in that email address).

I’m working with Julie Perrin on a Retreat Day in Clifton Hill called Springtime Story Basking this weekend. There are some tickets still available, so if you’re in Melbourne and you’re needing some space to write or draw or just be, join us at the Athol Gill Centre, 100 Hodgkinson st, Clifton Hill, 11am - 4pm this Saturday. Bookings here http://www.trybooking.com/BYNX

If you’re interested in the idea of home and/or ritual you might also like to have a look at this poem Some Say Home by Cheryl Lawrie and check out her site hold this space- an exploration of alternative worship, public sacred spaces, ritual, justice and spirituality in Melbourne, Australia.

I’m going to be walking and dancing down the isle in St Paul’s Cathedral Melbourne at 6pm this Sunday night! Why?

Well, I must admit large ornate churches freak me out a bit, they’re beautiful but kind of creepy… However, this weekend in Melbourne an amazing woman and historical figure, Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) is being celebrated.

Hildegard was a 12th century philosopher, a musician, a diplomat, a leader, teacher, author, painter, abbess, mystic, preacher, herbalist / healer, a visionary, a cook, and a theologian. She wrote the first opera ever in the West, and she invented an alternative alphabet!

Remembered for her capacity to integrate different branches of knowledge and for crossing boundaries of convention; Hildegard spoke clearly against corruption and created new ways to envision the Christian story using feminine images of divine power. Ironically, earlier this month on October 7, the current misogynist Vatican declared Hildegard of Bingen a Doctor of the Church (one of only four women in 2,000 years of history).

So, this Sunday night at 6pm there’s a prayer service, ‘Sunday Vespers’, at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne (across from Federation Sqaure) to honour Saint Hildegard. It’s free and open for anyone to attend. If you’re up for it I’d love you to come and see me dance down the isle, Bingen-style! 

“Be not lax in celebrating!”  - Hildegard of Bingen. She said it!

Hildegard chatting to God and dancing with some naked, long-eared dudes.

Waaaoooooooooooh way ooooh woe woe woe… Yeeeee-eah! I am SOOOO looking forward to performing alongside poets, Cameron Semmens and Sista Zai as well as philosophy/ theology/ parable teller & unsettler, Peter Rollins (What a line-up!) in Melbourne next Tuesday during the day and in the evening. The event is called Faith, Philosophy and Future and is part of Peter Rollins Australian Tour. Apologies for the short notice! Registrations for the daytime event close today! https://event.goregister.com.au/peterollins2012/individual/

For the night gig tickets are available on the door…

Event: ‘Insurrection in the Upper Room’
Venue: Upstairs at The Shine Cafe Bar 74-76 Kingsway, Glen Waverley.
Dinner: Shine’s kitchen and bar will be open.
Start Time: 8pm
Cost: $10

Sista Zai and I formed a connection at the screening of The Last Survivor at Arts in Action in May 2012. Sista Zai is a founding member of Stillwaters Storytelling Collective - well worth checking out, as is Arts is Action - the collaborative social action film nights at Bella Union.