#115

LITTLE RITUALS SAY A LOT ABOUT YOU AND YOUR GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

W

hat we do every day says a lot about people and the culture to which they belong – and then there are those special events nuanced throughout with rituals.

The little enigmatic rituals can say the most, particularly when completed in public with a bit of finesse, where the sequence of acts can send a message to whomever you may want to be a witness.

Often, the smallest acts of social defiance can become automatic, almost like an impulse compelled more by a physical stimulus than a thought, just as automatic as acts signifying a willingness to obey the rules.

United States President Trump kept on crooning his neck as if still listening to the assassin’s bullet during his address to the Joint Sessions of Congress on March 4, 2025.

Each awkward appeal by Trump to his political friends inside the chamber was usually preceded by one or more lavish statements of his Administration’s early success that deserved applause. Trump’s gesture may have perhaps been an automatic response generated from a deep psychotropic trauma, and his inert need for praise simultaneously coinciding with a desire for empathy.

And the Republicans loved him for the sequence of gestures, although perhaps not quite conscious of the emotive trigger that had made the response surface.

Talk show host Conan O’Brien kind of ever so subtly flips his head back, likely not just to keep his hair in place but to also get the best angle for his face on the camera.

Just mentioning these personalities signifies time observing them, in these two said cases in particular, public performances subsequently relayed to homes through streaming services.

The more sophisticated rituals have been institutionalized over the centuries like a historical record, such as the uncontrolled need to lash out verbally at anonymous drivers who simultaneously commit a driving infraction while also impeding your progress as the driver of your motor vehicle, in your city, on your way to and from your work.

What people do for other people says a lot as well – like the methodical writer of greetings, who never forgets to send a word of kindness to anyone having a birthday, including third parties once removed from immediate family members and close friends. The automatic birthday reminder features on social media do not detract from this person’s delivery in anyway – and perhaps only widens the possible reach of the campaign.

The little rituals before taking the stage for public appearances afflicts athletes as much as actors as much as public figures about to give a speech. One never knows for certain why public personalities button up their suite jacket only to immediately reach down to undo the button once the speech is underway. Why not just lose a bit of weight or wear a t-shirt.

Certain football players like to clip a few blades of grass with their fingers before stepping onto the field. Artificial turf makes the clipping part a bit difficult.

Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, like many prolific football goal scorers after scoring goals of any calibre, frequently searches for the correct corner of the field before sliding off the pitch on his knees and thumping his heart as his teammates catch up to him and clamber on his back. This ritual is repeated throughout the world by goal scorers, some more eager, some less eager than other goal scorers to slide down, down, down under the weight of five or six teammates.

Sports can be a transcendental journey with the synthesis of perfect athletic form and competitive success. Mount Everest climbers aspire toward the great iconic ascent often for years, with the year immediately prior to the attempted summit of the highest mountain on the planet culminating in intense physical training and psychological tuning.

Every step of the 8848 meter ascent is treated as the chance of a lifetime, although the odd climbers will return again and again, for various reasons, like not having been able to summit after such a strenuous ordeal.

The semantic meaning of the word, ritual, has roots in the word, ritus, used for the first time in 1570 England. The word ritus ought not to be confused with riotous, although in those days, in the absence of individual liberty from the state, many citizens may have been compelled toward riotous actions against the monarchy.

Rituals may be distinguished from habits by a specific sequence of actions. Ronaldo does not just celebrate his goals, he also puts on his team uniform in a certain manner, methodically ties the laces to his freshly polished boots, and then steps on the field with his right foot first as the last player on the team from the locker room.

Ronaldo is last on the field but, more often than not, first to celebrate a goal and slide into the corner of the field on both knees. All the more remarkable, is that Ronaldo never seems to tire of this ritual, and instead seems to be more celebratory, the more surprising it becomes that he is still scoring goals after 22 seasons as a heavily marked, professional football player.

The Portuguese do have their rituals, like swallow tattoos on sailors and decorative colored tiles along the streets, often finished in blue and white colors to reflect the ocean waters off the coast of the maritime nation.

Waterborne acts may compel the creation of festivals and carnival all around the world, especially in the summer during rushes along the sandy beach under that warm ocean breeze.

Office workers like to carry water bottles or reuseable ventes coffee mugs on public transit or in the car while commuting to and from appointments. The timing of the little sip from the cup can be methodical at times, like just as an annoying coworker is about to make a very important point or when you need to take a few more seconds to respond to an on-the-go question from an office manager.

On a more serious note, rituals are import as an instrument of inclusion, as completing the sequencing creates a sense of belonging and purpose with the other humans also successfully completing the same sequencing, and the community grows stronger with a greater reach.

A really good sequencing is developed over many years, you know like in the 16^th century when lipstick became fashionable, although Cleopatra VII developed a really nice red cosmetic from crushed bugs, and I don’t mean Elizabeth Taylor, during all those costume changes in the 1963 film, Cleopatra. From lipstick comes all the other cosmetic applications and aesthetic rituals before a person makes a public appearance, although a final touch of lipstick might be the last act in the sequence, at least according to all those movie scenes shot in front of a vanity mirror.

A prescribed series of acts is often no more than cleverly disguised rules. The voluntarily instilled discipline may then be readily transferred over to more elaborate transparent rules that demand obedience.

And there is really nothing wrong with that, it’s just that you might not have thought about how all those feelings of guilt and innocence come about when faced with choices about rituals and rules.