• In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Daily Ritual.”

As therapeutic and as good as consistency can be, monotony can become extremely predictable and boring. I like a bit of spice in my life and I search for simple, cost effective ways to achieve a balance between stable and racy. However, that said, there are Four pillars of ritualistic acts that are constant in my daily life.

Prayer

Writing

Reading

Eating (not to be forgotten)

Every other aspect is slotted into a box around these Four. Call it upbringing, belief, force of habit etc., the first thing that comes to my mind once my eyes peek open, is to give thanks. It depends on how my spirit moves me. I could wake up with a particular song in my heart or prayer thought. I could wake up without much to bother God about, and I would just say good morning Lord. Another beautiful. Thank you. Then there are some mornings or even evenings that I have a pretty long chat with him, followed by scouring through my bible. Sometimes, he responds right away and other times he simply listens to my rants until I have run out of steam.

My second daily ritual is to write throughout the day. Spur of the moment notes or thoughts are quickly jotted as I go about my daily affair and much later in the evenings when all the hungry mouths have been fed and no one is looking at mummy with hungry eyes.

For more than 25 years at least, I have always gone to bed clutching a book. That is my own sleeping pill and my tuck myself in time, when I am satisfied that I have done the bit that can be done for that day. All leftovers will be carried over to the next day if feasible.

Of course I love the ritual of eating and this art of appreciating the fruitfulness of the land is a daily need that must be met to keep me well  nourished.

There is no point in searching far and wide to know what happens on a day that my cycle is rudely interrupted, I become a sour-faced grumpus. Each day, I try to perfect the fine-art of observing my rituals. It keeps me calm, more productive and less quarrelsome.

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

P.S. Sometimes these prompts make me feel as if I am writing an autobiography 🙂