Michael Norton

a religious ceremony, I'm Irish Catholic, so if I observe a Catholic mass,

everyone in the church is engaged in the exact same actions.

You know, we kneel at the same time, we stand at the same time, et cetera.

But for some of the people in the church, that is an incredibly deep reflection of their faith.

It connects them with their, you know, grandparents who had faith as well.

It connects them with their spirituality.

It may be one of the most important things they do in their life.

And literally the person sitting next to them might be there because their parents made them go.

They're doing the exact same actions, but for one person, they are getting this enormous benefit out of it.

And the other person can't wait to leave.

And I think that's quite important because it means that it isn't just that it's the specific movements that cause something to be a ritual and be meaningful.

It's the meaning that we bring to it often that imbues rituals with their power.

So I was a skeptic of rituals.

You know, I'm supposed to be a scientist and this sort of thing.

And so the word ritual for me also was I was a bit skeptical of it.

I will say when people say I don't have any rituals.

uh the first thing to do is ask your spouse or your children or your co-workers and they may very well tell you that you've got some that you weren't aware of but i think the other thing is that it depends how you define them you know so if i say uh have you ever been out and had liquid in a glass and everyone around the table lifted up the glass and clicked them together and said a one or two word phrase

Nearly everyone says, oh yeah, of course, you know, cheers or in Gaelic sláinte, you know, whatever your language is.

And I say, well, why did you do that?

And they say, oh, I see.