There is a chronic disease in our modern society.
In just two generations it has increased by 1,000%.
It’s killing our best and brightest.
Our most creative and beautiful souls.
Often it goes unseen.
Undetected.
Until it’s too late.
It doesn’t discriminate.
You may be a teenager, entrepreneur or a mum or a dad.
It strikes the rich and famous.
The gifted.
This disease can come and go.
Rises and falls.
Some people think they have conquered it.
But a crisis happens. A financial challenge or the loss of someone close to you.
That disease is depression.
Anxiety.
It has many faces.
And just recently it made its acquaintance with me.
I’ve seen it up close.
It turned up at my front door.
I’m now looking for answers.
No easy cures
The journey to solve and cure this disease has been in progress for many decades.
There are counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists.
Drugs, retreats and places to escape.
Good habits and routines.
Physical exercise.
It’s complicated
But our minds are complicated.
There are no magic pills, potions or silver bullets.
But there is one morning ritual that has been a foundation that has nourished me.
Given me a space and place to flourish.
Kept my anxiety at bay.
And allowed me to thrive.
The happiness ritual
Joseph Campbell the famous author of the “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” described it:
“Create a sacred place.
You must have a room…a certain time of day.
You don’t know what took place in the newspapers that morning.
Who your friends are.
You don’t know what you owe to anybody.
Or what anybody owes to you.
Have a sacred place, use it and take advantage of it.
For creation.
A place where you can experience and bring forth what you are.
And what you might be.
A place of creative incubation.
First nothing may happen.
But if you use and take advantage of it then something will happen”.
An accidental discovery
I discovered this ritual by accident one morning nearly a decade ago.
This habit of creation. Performing deep and creative work before opening emails or checking my social media.
This investing in myself has been a revelation to me over the last decade.
This routine is a safe place.
A sacred space.
A happiness ritual.
It is not an answer to this disease.
But it provides part of the solution.