Stress Management Kit
At the end of my recent Final Passages home funeral guide training, we were given two parting gifts designed to remind us that joy, humor, and resiliency are intimately bound together with death and loss. The first gift was a goofy flashing toy ; the second, a stress management kit.
The stress management kit contained a world of wisdom slipped into a Chinese money envelope no bigger than a credit card. An enclosed card provided a key to the contents:
I recently composed a ceremony-on-the-spot to support dear friends facing a life-changing crisis. I knew they considered sage a source of purification, so we began by burning some, wafting the smoke into every corner of their apartment. Then I folded a long strip of card stock, accordion style, and had them take turns writing their private responses, fold by fold, to the statement, “May we be supported, strengthened, or blessed by….”
As they sat together on the couch I read their words back to them, revealing a lovely synchronicity between what each had written independently. We paused to let these prayers sink in, then bound their folded intentions with a soft red string.
After offering them John O’Donohue’s Blessing for Courage, we lit Flying Wish Papers to focus on what they needed to release. One round was definitely not enough! We did another, capturing the ash bodies of the papers and letting them go, out the window, into the night air.
* * *
What symbols and rituals do you draw upon in times of trouble?
The stress management kit contained a world of wisdom slipped into a Chinese money envelope no bigger than a credit card. An enclosed card provided a key to the contents:
- An eraser… so you can make all your mistakes disappear.
- A coin… so you will never have to say “I’m broke.”
- A marble… in case someone says, “You’ve lost all your marbles.”
- A rubberband… to stretch yourself beyond your limits.
- A string… to tie things together when everything seems to fall apart.
- A button… for your lips, so you’ll have time to think before you speak.
- A knot… so when you reach the end of your rope you’ll have something to hang on to.
- A hug and a kiss… to remind you that someone, somewhere cares about you.
I recently composed a ceremony-on-the-spot to support dear friends facing a life-changing crisis. I knew they considered sage a source of purification, so we began by burning some, wafting the smoke into every corner of their apartment. Then I folded a long strip of card stock, accordion style, and had them take turns writing their private responses, fold by fold, to the statement, “May we be supported, strengthened, or blessed by….”
As they sat together on the couch I read their words back to them, revealing a lovely synchronicity between what each had written independently. We paused to let these prayers sink in, then bound their folded intentions with a soft red string.
After offering them John O’Donohue’s Blessing for Courage, we lit Flying Wish Papers to focus on what they needed to release. One round was definitely not enough! We did another, capturing the ash bodies of the papers and letting them go, out the window, into the night air.
* * *
What symbols and rituals do you draw upon in times of trouble?
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