Participate.

Good morning Ceremony Tribe- it's 10:35am on Saturday morning and I have a raging hangover of the dancing variety (designated driver reporting for duty). Yesterday I worked 10 hours by the end of which I was ready to curl up on the couch and watch Bridget Jones with a very large glass of wine. Work challenged me this week. It made me reflect on what I will and won't accept from others, which is often a fine line when you're working to support vulnerable people who haven't been accepted a lot of their lives. I showered, took myself over to a friends house and cooked us dinner. We had this delicious East Asian soup (pictured below) and sweet smooth gin & tonics. We laughed hysterically and reflected on the world of online dating with many a story of how some men need serious training on how to react to being told 'no'. Spending time with your friends is so affirming isn't it? When you rock up with your freshly washed hair and Birkenstocks with your homemade spice mix in a jar & just have a fantastic time. Then, I drove the 20mins home, put on my most unflattering pyjamas, washed my face off and crawled into my linen heaven ready to listen to a Tara Brach meditation. My housemate H was about to go out and begged with her gorgeous rosy cheeks to drive her into the city promising croissants and coffee the next day (she's still sleeping so that's a pending bribe...) I drove H in, then came home and sat in the car listening to a voice memo from a girlfriend. I was tired but I also felt a ping of jealousy that I wasn't going dancing with my friends on a Friday night. I'm not going to be this age forever and I'm certainly not going to have this energy forever (maybe not even next week haha) My phone buzzes with a series of messages from H. It's 90 R&B Night Good mix of old and new You should come..... LIVE YO LIFE So now I'm debating whether to promptly take myself upstairs, fulfil my 8 step skincare routine to the sweet sounds of Laura Marling or do I throw on my high waisted flares, my Danny Zuko black t-shirt, some Zetti hoops and drive my ass towards living life. So I did. (Word of the year: Participate) When I arrive H is out the front waiting for me with shock and awe as she hasn't seen me awake past 10pm in months. We walk down the stairs, into this entirely black entry room. The floor is black concrete with the brightest rainbow glitter set into it. It's going to be a good night. We went through the second door into the main bar and the whole ceiling has a blanket of white wisteria and the lights are solid plumes of purple, gold and a pink laser circling. Fatman Scoop was playing and there was maybe 30 people in the entire venue. P.e.r.f.e.c.t. I'm not super social on the best of days but it was almost midnight by this point, the music was loud & everyone was on the same wavelength ready to dance the hell out of however they were feeling that week. I can't tell you how good it felt to be close to other humans. I haven't held a hand for 12 months, let alone salsa. Everyone introduced themselves, asking names over the bass and everyone bought each other drinks at the sweeping gold tortoise shell bar. It was a little slice of magic in a pandemic world. I honestly had the best time and felt like H and I were able to connect on a different level that wasn't just coffee runs before work, choosing which movie to watch, which dish soap to buy and the household playlist. We danced hard together, and in that moment I really loved that we had found each other 8 years ago on Gumtree. I felt invigorated. Today I'm waking up to a message from a guy who was nice at the start of the night and by the end was literally dry humping a girl in a booth (she was into it) while his friend filmed it, to the melodies of Rihanna. Blocked. Go out and participate in your life this weekend. You might just learn a few things about yourself. M x

Daily Ceremony acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of the land we work on, and we pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging.