Worshipping With Executive Dysfunction
Ironically, I’m writing this to avoid doing my Work Job. Let’s get into it.
Set an alarm so you remember. Pick a specific time you’re going to worship, because “later” never comes and “sometime this evening” rarely does either. Instead, set an alarm so that you already have that time set aside in your mind, and so that you don’t mentally blow past it when that time arrives.
Keep everything in one place. Keep the offerings near where you would offer them, as well as anything you might need to do it, like matches or lighters. Make it so there’s as little travel time as possible between you and what you want to do.
Think through the ritual setup beforehand. Sometimes the offering part is easy but getting to that point is overwhelming, especially if your tradition involves ritual purification or invocation rituals. Boil it down to the bare essentials and capture the essence in a way that doesn’t have so many steps, if you can. (Ex: Is that personal purification rite just an ancient way of washing away germs, and if so can we just mindfully wash our hands and fulfull the rite’s function?)
Start with something little. Getting started can be the hardest part. If you don’t have the energy for an entire offering ritual, break it into pieces. Just do the setup and approach the rest later if you need. Or just put on a playlist to get into the mood for now. Or take a couple deep breaths to refocus your brain. Ease into it as slowly as you need.
Think ahead with your offerings. Will you have the spoons to clean up after? If you’re like me and run the risk of not removing an offering for days (or weeks…) then think ahead to what can stay there a long time, just in case. Nobody likes cleaning up the altar and finding mold in the offering dish. Incense, water, and dried plants tend to work well, as do nonphysical things like music and poetry.
“While I’m at it…” If you catch yourself in a spot with good momentum, try to get a rite done while you have the energy instead of putting it off. It can be something simple, but use the energy and the drive while you’re on top of it since we can’t always guarantee it will be there in even an hour.
Keep things similar so that you don’t have to rethink every step, every time. A rock solid routine with what a ritual looks like helps it become a lot more automatic, and therefore a lot easier to actually do. Routine becomes habit.
Remember that something is better than nothing. Anything that helps you touch base with your Divine and keep them close is a good thing, and most people don’t give an offering every single day. Don’t waste time beating yourself up for not performing at the level you wish you could. Instead, celebrate the love it takes to do something at all for them through your Executive Dysfunction; you’re already pushing yourself and striving to do your best for them, and that’s incredible. Hang onto that.
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