When I started deciding what kind of ritual I wanted to implement into my life, I decided that I didn't want it to be just a temporary part of my routine. Instead, I wanted to find a ritual that would help me accomplish something in my life. I wanted my ritual to be full of purpose, a ritual that would serve me well. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay I decided I wanted to involve my girlfriend in my ritual. I thought having someone else involved in my ritual would help me "stick to it." Furthermore, I thought that “my” ritual could become “our” ritual and therefore could serve as a tool to cement our bond. Something I thought would be a great ritual revolves around healthy eating. While eating healthier satisfies many interests for most people, it's especially important to me because I'm diabetic. Over the summer, my girlfriend and I found a body hanging in front of our door. Although I believe we have both overcome much of the trauma associated with witnessing a suicide, we have both started eating a lot more since then. We must have found comfort and control in junk food, since unhealthy eating temporarily made things feel better. We have both gained weight due to this behavior and we both think it's time to eat healthier. I want to incorporate the ritual of planning a weekly menu with my girlfriend every Sunday, and then following the meal plan. The specifics of the ritual are as follows: Every Sunday afternoon, my girlfriend and I sit together and come up with different healthy recipes to try. Let's compromise and create a breakfast menu, a lunch menu, a dinner menu, two snack options, and a healthy dessert for each day of the week. We print the menu and then follow the pre-established menu every day. Although we each have very busy schedules, we decided that this ritual would serve as a tool to promote compromise and a healthier lifestyle. In Black's article The Value of Rituals in Family Life, the five purposes of rituals really helped shape what I wanted to get out of my ritual (Black, p.484). In terms of “relationship” I chose to make sure my ritual helped “maintain” the positive aspects, especially good communication, in my relationship. I believe the ritual I chose to do really helped me communicate better with my girlfriend because we had to compromise and discuss any obstacles that occurred along the way. Although my girlfriend and I had some hiccups with the ritual, we were both involved and this “involvement…can be seen through the lens of a ritual” (484). Our ritual, just like our relationship, is shaped by effective communication, however this ritual has also helped us change our communication style to include more compromise. When it came to "changing" (484), I wanted this ritual to mark two important transitions in my life, including "moving on" after witnessing a suicide. I believe it was my witnessing of this tragic event that led me to start overeating, so the fact that my ritual was changing this reaction-behavior leads me to believe that the ritual actually helped with the transition. Another transition that my ritual helped me make was moving to a healthier lifestyle. I am diabetic and excess.