The end of the year can often feel like a “Why bother?” time in communities. Engagement tends to droop, leaders and members alike may be holding a lot of obligation and stress in their personal and professional lives, and it can seem like there is too much to do and not enough time to do it. But what if we tried something new this year? How might we re-imagine this time so that we could end and start the year in impactful, values-aligned ways? 

One possibility? Take some time to mark this transitional period with a community ritual. Human culture has always been centered in ritual. Rituals are how we come together to build collective meaning and understanding through events, gestures, and tradition. In your community, rituals can act as a reinforcement and celebration of membership and reflect group values. They present opportunities to strengthen your community and create new opportunities for sharing and connection. 

In this 30-minute audio discussion, Lisa and Molly discuss the importance of bringing intention to your community, the difference between habits and rituals, and where to start when planning to bring rituals to your community. And to help you in doing just that, we’ve created a worksheet that will help you to develop meaningful and values-aligned rituals for your community during this end of the year time and beyond. You can find it here. This activity will take about 30 minutes and will provide you with space to build out your idea and start putting it into action. 

Feeling stuck or need support in building community rituals of your own? Join our growing community of Cultivators here.

Time Stamps: 

3:00 - Molly gives an example of an impactful end of year ritual with Cultivate 

6:35 - Check out Cultivator @Amanda Huang’s business Earth Made Kitchen for virtual cooking classes for your own team or community!  

7:22 - What are community rituals? Why do they matter? 

9:16 - Community rituals vs. community habits 

12:17 - Rituals beyond events: Building an impactful onboarding process 

17:09 - Where to start when planning a ritual for your community

19:46 - Doing the prep work to surprise and delight your members

23:36 - Allowing your members to show up as they are - Some wisdom from Molly and Cultivator @Penny Schnarrs 

27:40 - The Ghosts of Community Past, Present & Future 👻

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