Lebron's "Chalk" Ad, the Power of Ritual, and Free Coffee

I saw this great new Nike ad by Lebron James, where they draw from his pre-game ritual of throwing the scorer's chalk into the air to show other people bringing that ritual into their daily lives (after being influenced by Lebron, of course, and his Nike shoes). It's pretty sick, and the song (Candyman by Cornership, from their 2003 album "When I Was Born for the 7th Time", which also has "Brimful of Asha" on it, probably their most famous hit) is tasty delicious. Check it out HERE. And here's the video:



I have thought a lot about the power of ritual in starting a company and as I've continued to define and redefine the way I want to live my life. It has become particularly interesting to me through the lens of religion, as Krista and I have begun to form the habit of Sunday morning church service at a fairly progressive Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park (called the Cafe, it has a rock band and is not IN a church). Having been forced-fed religion from 1st-12th grade (1-8 at Our Lady Queen of Peace and 9-12 at Edgewood High School), I took what I liked to call a "break" from religion for the majority of college (despite attending a Jesuit school in Boston College) and thereafter. BTW, Chris Farley was a graduate of Edgewood--and my friend Steph McCoy lived in his neighborhood and has some funny stories about him.



In fact, it wasn't the abstract concept of a "God" that ended up getting me through the doors of the Cafe service. It was coffee and the fact that we had a lot of our closest couple friends who attended regularly. After the service, we'd wander Menlo Park and typically go get a breakfast and good conversation from Cafe Borrone (I call it Bor-ron, Dave King calls it Ba-ro-ney (like baloney)...who knows?). Krista would go more often than I would--I would sometimes exercise my right NOT to go, possibly just to prove that I didn't HAVE to go, as I used to HAVE to go to religion class and church at school. There's another lesson on the power of having a choice in there, but I'll leave it be for tonight.

As we graduated from Stanford, many of our churchgoing friends moved away (not all though! We still get to go with the Houghtons and the Kings every now and again, to my delight; today we were reserving seats for the Houghtons, who were running late for the service due to a last-minute-baby-schedule-adjustment, and I kept eagerly looking at the door when people would come in, hoping they wouldn't cancel entirely), and we moved a half hour north to Burlingame. But after getting settled in, we began to go back to Menlo early Sunday, and re-established our routine.



Even now, I continue to tell myself that I go in the morning for the "free coffee" (even though Krista tends to give money as we leave and I get my 2nd cup). I still haven't really opened up as much to the "God" part of it internally, but I've become really interested in the symbols and stories and rituals that the Church uses to convey messages that stick. It's also a great time for me to (try to) disconnect from my day to day startup worries, which all too often follow me all the way through the weekend, and to get a much bigger perspective of the issues I am personally dealing with.

That's the power of ritual, as THIS LINK points out so well: ritual gives structure to chaos. Whether it's a Friday all-hands meeting or Sunday morning church, it can help you when you're feeling a little lost at sea.

Final note: this post was intended as a post more about the power of ritual, but it turned into a bit of a spiritual expose. Oops. At least I know I'll get a Laurie Bolden post out of it! :)

Also, I want to point out that I am SO GRATEFUL for my educational and spiritual upbringing--I loved Queen of Peace and Edgewood, and would never change a thing about those experiences. I owe a TON to my parents and teachers and sisters for those great experiences.