The difference between a routine
and a ritual is….
about a generation.
Rituals
Question: What is the difference between a habit and a ritual?
Answer: About a hundred years.
Many things like fasting and feasting have become ritualized parts of religious practice. In Judaism we fast on Yom Kippur we feast on Rosh Hashanah. We wear clothes that suit particular holidays because they are part of the ritual. And they are part of the ritual because they have been followed by many people for hundreds of years. This makes no sense but I am willing to follow along. Rituals mean that the decisions have been made, we don’t have to think about it anymore. Life is good.
Multi-lingual
“I speak all languages except Greek.”
“Oh. So do you speak Russian.”
“No. Russian is Greek to me.”
Vodka
Vodka doesn’t help you find the answer.
But it does help you forgot the question.
Wisdom from the vodka tasting on our Viking Cruise
Speed Bumps
The Russian word for “speed bump” is: “lexhashchii politseiskii.”
It literally means “lying down policeman.”
I thought this was pretty funny Russian humor, which is often directed at the absurdity of the bureaucracy, until an English passenger on the cruise told me they uses the same phrase in the UK. It’s still funny but might be indicative of the Americans lack of humor.