Welcome and Here’s to Sparkly Nails

Welcome to 52 Rituals, the blog for Celebrationism. Through this blog I want to share ideas and thoughts on all things celebratory and ceremonial.

The concept for Celebrationism came to me on Saturday, May 15, 2021. I was training online to become an officiant through the Celebrant Foundation and Institute and was really thinking a lot about ceremonies and rituals. I know the exact date be3cause I wrote about it in my journal. “I believe I have come up with what my natural religion is. I’m a Celebrationist. Celebrationism (which honestly might be more of a philosophy but feels like a spiritual practice to me) is the remembering, marking, and celebrating our histories, moments, and connections. That’s my working definition. I have to think more about it.”

This blog will be part of that thinking more about it. Sometimes I will write about those “big” ceremonies we are all familiar with, weddings, funerals, etc. But more often it will be about everyday specialness. Because ordinary is sacred. So, I am going to start with a small thing, or rather ten small things. I almost always have sparkly fingernails.

I have loved nail polish since I was a small girl. All the colors thrilled me, pink, red, purple, blue, green, orange. And sparkles were my most favorite. But I rarely wore the glittery kind because your average Monday just didn’t rate sparkles. That was only for special occasions. About eight years ago I started allowing myself to have one finger on each hand all dolled up with glitter. During the day I would sneak a peek at those two fingers as they glinted in the overhead fluorescent light of my office. It never failed to make me smile.

Then Covid happened and the world turned upside down. I decided if one glittering nail per hand made me happy, all five would make me absolutely giddy with delight. And you know what? It did. Yes, the world was still, going to hell in a handbasket. Death and unemployment were still the themes of the day. But those tiny metallic chips of blue or pink or silver buoyed my spirits. They hey brought me back to happy carefree times in my childhood. Trying on sequined ballet recital costumes. Long afternoons of arts and crafts on the living room floor.

One day I answered application for position in a nursing home. I told the interviewer that having those sparkly nails meant I was choosing to find something each day to celebrate. I did not get that job (she told me I was overqualified), but I drove home understanding that what I’d told her was an absolute truth. Every day – even your average Monday – was worth sparkles. I was alive. I had enough savings to pay my rent. I had people I loved who loved me back.

Starry Night Nails!!!!

Now two years later and gainfully employed, I still look down at my fingertips and see the reminder that everyday gives us something to celebrate. Sure, sometimes those things are colossal events like graduations, moving, getting a new job. But if you only get glittered on those types of days, you are going to have very dull fingernails.

You see, I am totally here for celebrating traffic-free commutes home, good hair days, and finding your new favorite song. For that matter I’m here for even more basic happenings. Feeling your feet touch the floor when you wake up. Taking long peaceful breaths. Seeing that “I-got-home-safe text” on your phone.

This nail polish thing is a regular ritual for me. But I bet you have your own everyday specialness thing too. Maybe yours is a gift mug that you drink from in the morning or the jingling sound of the tags on your dog’s collar. One thing rituals do is serve as reminders. Birthday candles point out that another year has gone by, and we should appreciate life – and eat the cake!

The looking at my nails and remembering is a ritual of celebration. The painting of my nails is a ritual of preparation. Both help me savor the moment, feel gratitude, and experience a connection with the world. And it all can happen on an average Monday.

Humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow said, “The sacred is in the ordinary...it is to be found in one's daily life, in one's neighbors, friends, and family, in one's own backyard.”

Remember to create, celebrate, and gather.