A ritual at @ted ? Are you kidding me!
What would a real-time #ritual of renewal look like at TED?
That's the question I was asked to answer this week at #ted2026. And what a profound and meaningful time we had bringing together two, standing-room-only crowds where people shared the personal and professional struggles they're experiencing in this moment of overwhelming change.
Drawing on ideas from my new #book, A TIME TO GATHER, guests from the around the world joined in welcoming one another with joy; expressing their deepest fears over bitter chocolate and their sweetest dreams over milk chocolate; shedding their burdens with hand-ripped chunks of bread; expressing wishes for their colleagues with candles in water; and carrying home the hopes of others with messages scripted on stones.
We managed to do what all good rituals do: turn fear into hope.
Special thanks to everyone who made this possible, especially Cyndi Stivers, Nicole Darsney, Destiny Haggett, and Susan Zimmerman. To all who came, including Esther Perel, June Cohen, Sunny Bates, and others. And to @MeganSheldon for sage advice!
Rituals created the world; rituals are the only thing strong enough to save us.
We will get through this time—together.
All of us.
🙏🩵📚
I've been keeping a secret. I’m thrilled—and emotional—to share that I’ve been stealthily working on the greatest adventure I’ve ever undertaken and completed what I believe is the best book I’ve ever written.
It’s called A TIME TO GATHER: How Ritual Created the World—and How It Can Save Us. Publication is May 19; pre-order available now.
I was going through a challenging time. My dad had died, my mom was in decline, my children had left home, my marriage needed to be redefined.
And I wasn’t alone. All around me, people were passing through the same unfamiliar doors into the same uncertain worlds.
For years, I had been writing about the transitions that shape and reshape our lives.
Lifequakes, I call them.
But this moment felt different. Less individual, more relational.
I thought: I need a ritual.
That’s when I discovered the most astonishing story hiding in plain sight.
Since time immemorial, humans have turned to ritual to connect us in periods of change. Until today. Birth rituals and coming-of-age rituals have plummeted; fewer than half of Americans are married; only 1 in 3 is buried. Can this threat to society be reversed?
To find out, I went on a round-the-world ritual road trip, participating in life rituals in 16 countries on 6 continents. These spectacles include a mass baptism in the Vatican, a tribal bride price negotiation in South Africa, an adolescent tooth filing in Bali, 6 weddings in Las Vegas, and 10 funerals in Ireland.
Beyond decline of traditional rituals, I discovered that we are in the midst of a ritual renaissance that is pushing back against loneliness and digital saturation.
Fed up with top-down scripts, everyday people, from boomers to Gen Z, are reimagining collective rituals at a remarkable pace, inventing fresh ways to gather around life, love, health, and family—and forging thriving communities in the process.
I also interviewed 100 ritual designers and built a first-of-its kind database of ideas to make gatherings more effective.
A TIME TO GATHER is great adventure, a toolkit for turning everyday moments into unforgettable celebrations, and an invitation to reconnect.
I hope you'll join me on this journey! 🙏
We are living through a moment of tumultuous change, but people find it hard to name these changes. Most of the names we assign to them -- crisis, catastrophe, curveball -- have a negative connotation. Yet that's misleading. Some of these events are involuntary and often devastating -- a diagnosis, a downsizing, a natural disaster, a pandemic. But some disruptive events are voluntary and even joyful -- moving, quitting your job, getting married, having children. I like the term 'lifequake' because it's neutral, yet captures the ways these events upend our lives and lead to fundamental shifts in how we find meaning, direction, and purpose. A lifequake is a forceful burst of change that leads to a period of upheaval, transition, and renewal. What's a lifequake you've experienced recently?
#lifeisinthetransitions
My @nytopinion essay is the #1 most emailed at the paper today! Thank you for reading, commenting, and sharing! I'm thrilled that so many readers resonated with this adaptation from A TIME TO GATHER about how Americans are pushing back against hate and division with an outpouring of new rituals that allows us to connect and make meaning together!
"A generation into the loneliness epidemic, Americans are devising astonishing new ways to gather in real life. Fed up with isolation, polarization and digital saturation, people are flocking to rituals — collective, elective activities that bring us together for recurring shared purpose. Eager participants are reimagining how to mark life, love, health and family — and forging thriving communities in the process.
This groundswell of collective meaning making may be our best shot to counter the divisive algorithms and artificial intimacies of Big Tech. And every person, regardless of background, can join in.
Increasingly, we face a choice: It’s virtual or ritual, URL or IRL. Ritual may not be our last hope, but it may be our best hope — one gathering at a time." #ATIMETOGATHER #bookstagram #authorsofinstagram
I'm deeply emotional and profoundly grateful to share the first public unveiling of A TIME TO GATHER: My @nytopinion essay on how Americans are pushing back against loneliness, hate, and division with a renaissance of new rituals that allow us to connect and make meaning together. The entirely grassroots effort may be the greatest untold story in the world today; it's absolutely the story of how hope can triumph over fear. I hope you enjoy A TIME TO GATHER. Even more, I hope it inspires you to create meaningful gatherings of your own that help soften the harsh edges of daily life and restitch our fraying world.
"A generation into the loneliness epidemic, Americans are devising astonishing new ways to gather in real life. Fed up with isolation, polarization and digital saturation, people are flocking to rituals — collective, elective activities that bring us together for recurring shared purpose. Eager participants are reimagining how to mark life, love, health and family — and forging thriving communities in the process.
This groundswell of collective meaning making may be our best shot to counter the divisive algorithms and artificial intimacies of Big Tech. And every person, regardless of background, can join in." 🙏💙📚
#ATIMETOGATHER #bookstagram #ritual
What are the Top 5 Books about Ritual?
As we head into the publication of A TIME TO GATHER, I want to honor and uplift some of the thinkers, doers, leaders, legends, scholars, strangers, designers, and practitioners who have honored and uplifted me over these last years.
I'm going to start with two posts. First up: the five best books about ritual. Of course I picked 10! I've left off 20 more. But each of these books holds a special place in my life--and the journey I've been on.
Next: the five best ritual designers I know. Once again, I picked 10!
Let's start with one of the things I still hold most dear: books!
#ATIMETOGATHER #bookstagram #ritual #ritesofpassage
What happens when life changes so deeply that your relationships, routines, and sense of belonging all need to be rebuilt?
In this beautiful conversation with Bruce Feiler, we explore life quakes, loneliness, transition, grief, connection, and the deep human longing to feel seen, heard, cared for, and lifted up.
Maybe what so many of us are craving right now is not more productivity or distraction, but meaningful togetherness.
A playbook for human connection in a disconnected world.
🎙 Full Bible Chat episode coming soon
📚 Get the Bible Chat bundle featuring Bruce Feiler’s new book A Time to Gather
✨ 25% OFF the bundle
❤️ 5% supports OpenSoul Foundation
Link in bio.
#biblechat #biblechatpodcast #human #togetherness #ritual
🙋♂️Come say hi on my FIRST BOOK TOUR in 10 years! And hear how you can create more fun and meaningful gatherings in your own life!
Reserve your books and seats early. A number of these events will sell out quickly.
Please tag someone nearby--and stay tuned for more events this summer and fall. And if I'm not coming to your area, check out the comments for how to order a personalized signed copy of A TIME TO GATHER that will be mailed to you *before* publication on May 19!
#atimetogather
New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Savannah
For the last 3 years, I’ve been trying to answer a simple question: How do we build connection in a world designed to divide us?
How do we come together at a time when everything is trying to pull us apart?
There is an answer. It's surprisingly simple.
And it's the first thing we ever did has human beings.
A TIME TO GATHER: How Ritual Created the World—and How It Can Save Us comes out in just a few days. I believe it's the best thing I've written this century.
Here's what happened:
I was going through a challenging time. My dad had just died, my mom was in decline, my children had left home, my marriage needed to be negotiated, my friendships remade.
I felt homesick in my home.
I thought I was prepared for this moment. For years, I had been writing about the transitions that shape and reshape our lives.
Lifequakes, I call them.
But this moment felt different. Less lifequake, more groupquake.
I know what I need, I thought: a ritual!
That’s when I discovered the most astonishing story hiding in plain sight.
Since time immemorial, humans have turned to ritual to connect us in periods of change. Until today. Birth rituals and coming-of-age rituals have plummeted; fewer than half of Americans are married; only 1 in 3 is buried. Can this threat to society be reversed?
To find out, I joined life rituals in 16 countries on 6 continents, from a mass baptism in the Vatican to a tooth filing in Bali, 6 weddings in a day in Las Vegas, 10 funerals in a week in Ireland.
Beyond decline, I discovered that we are in the midst of a ritual renaissance that is pushing back against loneliness and digital saturation.
Fed up with top-down scripts, everyday people, from boomers to Gen Z, are reimagining collective rituals at a remarkable pace, inventing fresh ways to gather around life, love, health, and family—and forging thriving communities in the process.
A TIME TO GATHER is both a grand adventure and a practical manual. It’s a tool kit for turning everyday moments into unforgettable celebrations and an invitation to reconnect and rejoice—together.
I hope you’ll join me on this journey of a lifetime.
Let's give everyone what we most need: a way home.
My first New York City event in 10 years!
Please join me and the incredible, hilarious @adrianatrigiani for the kickoff to the book tour for A TIME TO GATHER. We'll be talking about my around-the-world travels to 16 countries on six continents exploring the renaissance of new rituals around the world and how to make the gatherings in your life richer, deeper and more meaningful.
The key to being human is to be together. Come be with this us on this special night. Preorder your copy of A TIME TO GATHER today.
And stay tuned for more events being announced in the coming days!
🙏💙📚
#ritual #gathering #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #authorsofinstagram
