Sunday, October 31, 2010

Why I'm Making a Rite of Passage Ceremony Today

Today, we celebrate my daughter by a rite of passage ceremony that we've been thinking about for a long time. 

We are getting her ears pierced. 

As I think about rites of passage, I realize that precious few exist in our culture to celebrate girlhood--not adolescence or graduation or marriage--but just being a young girl.  I wanted the ear piercing to have ceremonial, symbolic importance that she might remember for her whole life.

We will have friends and family there to witness the event.  

I wrote a letter to my daughter for her to read about what her ear piercing symbolizes.  I wrote that whenever she sees her earrings, she will remember God's love for her, her family's love for her, and her realization of her own worth--far more precious than any jewel.   We are making a rite of passage to initiate her into the next stage of her growth.  These next few years will mean so much in terms of identity formation, and I realize the role that ritual, symbol, and community will play in that secure sense of self.

I turn 35 years old this week.  I wanted my daughter's ear piercing to coincide with my own rite of passage.  She has five years until high school, and I have 5 years until I turn 40.  What will we make, together, of these next years?  When I look at my daughter's earrings, it will symbolize my own journey as a woman and a wife and a mother. 

And I need friends and family to witness this.  

Symbols and rituals help build a meaningful life.  We can pass them on, weave together a beautiful history, and mark our lives by them.  When I look at my daughter's earrings, I will remember what they mean. 

5 comments:

  1. I so very much wish that I could be there with you and your girl to be one of the witnesses! I pray that the meaning you've given this event will be very real for her, even piercing into her heart so that she WILL always remember.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Me too, Charity! I love that you said it might even pierce into her heart. I love that!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a special idea...and very wise. This reminds me of speaker/writer/mama Dannah Gresh (look her up!) sharing about making a special celebration out of the day when her daughters started their period, explaining what it meant and celebrating the way the Lord made them to create life. I hope to mother with purpose like this when I have babies.
    Blessings. (I saw your comment on Pioneer Woman...)
    Sallie Kate

    ReplyDelete
  4. This was so good--I just found your blog, searching about when to allow my daughter to get her ears pierced..what age was yours when you did this?

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear your thoughts about how you are living with flair today.