Hello, Goodbye: 75 Rituals for Times of Loss, Celebration, and Change

Description

Embrace the power of ritual with simple yet "powerful" (Kim Chestney, author of Radical Intuition and founder of IntuitionLab) practices that slow us down to honor and mark the real moments in our lives-from the loss of a parent to the birth of a child, from grieving a pet to celebrating coming out of the closet. Life has many transitions: A baby is born. A child leaves for college. A marriage. A divorce. A death. We all experience moments of profound change, but what do we do to mark those moments? How do we become mindful of these events and imbue them with purpose and meaning? Could our lives be better, richer, and more resilient if we had more practical resources and rituals to honor, sanctify, and make sense of these transitions? Day Schildkret, artist and author behind the international Morning Altars movement, believes that what we need is ritual. Rituals are the rhythms and traditions that give us a sense of stability in the face of uncertainty by reminding us that there's always something we can do, say or make that conjures awe, contentment, and gratitude. They give us a way to acknowledge through our actions that, as life changes, we too must change. Offering ways to make these moments special and sacred, Hello, Goodbye teaches you to not fear uncertainty, but instead participate fully and creatively in life's inevitable changes, including: -Birth of a child -Moving and new homes -Divorce -Empty nesting -Retirement -Death anniversary -Health crises Containing over 75 hands-on ritual instructions, informed by hundreds of interviews, and filled with beautiful illustrations, inspirational story-telling, potent questions, and experienced wisdom, Hello, Goodbye is "certain to become a forever reference and treasured, faithful companion" (Kimbery Ann Johnson, author of Call of the Wild and The Fourth Trimester) for life's many milestones, perfect for those looking to find meaning in change and embrace the transformative thresholds of our lives. Hello, Goodbye is a "direct and moving" (Rabbi Jill Jammer, PhD, author of The Jewish Book of Days: A Companion for All Seasons) guide we all need to navigate life's uncertainties with grace, meaning, and intention, perfect for fans of Krista Tippet, Priya Parker, and Elena Brower.

Day Schildkret is internationally known for Morning Altars and has inspired tens of thousands of people of all ages across the globe to be awed with impermanent earth art. Both Day and Morning Altars have been featured in BuzzFeed, VICE, VOX, Spirituality & Health Magazine, and on NBC and CBS's affiliate stations. Day is the author of Morning Altars: A 7-Step Practice to Nourish Your Spirit through Nature, Art and Ritual, and Hello, Goodbye.

"Day Schildkret's book Hello, Goodbye is the most direct and moving guide to ritual that I have ever read. . . Here you will find simple, evocative, original, powerful rituals for bedtimes and seasons, for new names and new homes, for birthing and coming out, for growing up and grieving-but not only rituals. . . . You just might discover a way to live more consciously, with feeling and gratitude." -Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD, author of The Jewish Book of Days: A Companion for All Seasons "Hello, Goodbye is a treasured guide for all times. Sharing powerful rituals to reconnect us with our past and step courageously into our future, Day's words weave an artful tapestry of inspiration and invite us to participate, intentionally, in the natural cycles of our own personal journey - the beginnings and the endings - honoring the beauty and wonder of life itself." -Kim Chestney, Author of Radical Intuition and Founder of IntuitionLab "Day creates a meaningful and detailed look into the magic and use of ritual as a tool for modern times. It may be possible that the technology of ritual is just what is needed to thread the needle from our current freneticism as a civilization, to a shared future of equanimity. Day brings old ways new again, in methods approachable for anyone." - East Forest, musician "Day Schildkret has done something really special here. A few pages in, I wanted to gift this book to everyone I know. Certain to become a forever reference and treasured, faithful companion, Hello, Goodbye will be dog-eared, stained, written in, and passed on." -Kimberly Ann Johnson, author of Call of the Wild and The Fourth Trimester "There is only one thing to do when life expectedly or unexpectedly changes and you're stopped by the question: "What do I do now?" Pick up Hello, Goodbye. Do it, each and every time. Let this book inspire you to create rituals to honor the transition you are walking. Then get out of your head and into your hands, heart, and humanity. Day Schildkret's deeply important, alive, ceremonial book is a guide to mending the rupture of separation by reminding us to sanctify all the changes in our individual, familial, and community lives. Whether you are traversing grief, the coming of a second child, losing a job, stepping into a new relationship, or anything else, Hello, Goodbye is the guide we all need to honor, and grow with, to embrace and embody the mystery, magic, and movement of life." -HeatherAsh Amara, author of Warrior Goddess Training "Hello, Goodbye brings relief and beauty from its first pages. It is a balm in the mad rush of this world. Schildkret is a generous guide, inviting us to palpably mark and be fully present in the most tender and powerful moments of what it is to be human. I will always have this book in my life." -Heidi Rose Robbins, astrologer and host of the podcast The Radiance Project "Hello, Goodbye is a heartfelt invitation to slow down, take a deep breath, and allow ourselves to acknowledge and honor the transitions before us. In this, Day offers us both a timely and timeless gift: a reminder to be in our lives with feeling and intention rather than letting these moments, and our lives, simply slip by." -Eileen S. Rosete, MSMFT, certified postpartum doula and grief educator, founder of Our Sacred Women and author of the upcoming, Our Womb Loss "Hello, Goodbye is the arrival of the kind of friend who arrives in secret in the night, with scarred hands, and shielding a faint flame. Then, slowly, over the rest of the night that flicker is fed with you into something that looks like warmth as that friend genuinely shares some hard earned understanding of what ritual might be and why it has been forgotten and why it might be mandatory to start to cultivate the skill, now, for all the joys and sorrows that arrive at our collective doorsteps. Page by page Day Schildkret is that friend to you in his generous and worthy book for a ritual-starved time and place. Find a way to be gathered in." -Matthew Stillman, author, Genesis Deflowered