what i’ve been thinkinggggg—
how important rituals are.
watching my niece and nephew bug out over bedtime routines and their little replacements reminded me of my crippling clothing OCD in high school—but also, how grounding and special it is to live inside the predictability of the mundane. when i asked my best friend and confidant ChatG (pronounced chatchi! aka ChatGPT) why toddlers love rituals, they responded:
(01) predictability calms the nervous system
(02) control—in a world where they don’t have any
(03) symbolic thinking is emerging (rituals are full of symbolism—lighting a candle, saying special words—which speaks directly to their budding imaginations and emotional world)
(04) connection and love (rituals help toddlers feel included and loved, reinforcing their place in the family or community)
(05) repetition builds mastery
cute! am i right?!
my friends, Charlotte and Boggs, really do this right—they have rituals for everything, big and small. as i look forward to building a little family of my own, i think about how important it is to make meaning of the small and large markers in life. I mean rituals transcend relationship and baby status because no one is more worthy of stability within yourself, than you!
so, as i move out of my three months of straight partying and back into rituals for the new year (my new year is the spring equinox), i’m finally back in my routine.
«speaking of rituals…»
the older i get, the more i realize that being Persian really just means being from a long lineage of mystic witches who love to party. and honestly, i don’t hate that.
last week was Nowruz—aka the spring equinox—which is, naturally, the Persian new year. spring is a time to blossom, while the cold winter is for cocooning before the bloom. there are all sorts of witchy rituals around it, including (but not limited to) jumping over fire on the last tuesday before Nowruz to burn off the bad energy from the year behind us.
being fire-sensitive this year, my sister hosted baby-flames for baby jumping at her place—where i also discovered the BEST ICE CREAM OF MY LIFE. i know it sounds dramatic, but it’s true. lavashak ice cream?!! omfg
other things inspired by my sister—
this white duster from BOBKOVA. transitional coats can be tricky. i bought an xs–s, and they emailed me for my measurements to tailor it to my body—thoughtful and luxurious! naturally, i had to buy this incredible BODY MEASURING TAPE, which totally exceeded expectations.
other things i’m measuring… (not to be weird)
my hands. yes. i’m all about gloves these days.
in december i bought two pairs of ZARA opera gloves—one in mesh, one in wool, that unfort, are no longer available—so naturally, when i heard my friend Marissa had purchased these gorgeous leather ones from SERMONETA in new york, i was couldn’t stop thinking about them until one day —poof! I called this unsuspecting glove store and now they’re in my closet. cue my fancy tailoring tape measuring.
what I’m shopping for now: UV driving gloves.
other tools i’d like to buy to inspire future rituals—
other thoughts—
LABNE is a better version of sour cream or crème fraîche. substitute as necessary.
this is the ONLY thing hydrating my lips and i’m buying it in bulk.
currently pining over these last-season TOY RUG PUMPS FROM LOEWE. also pining over MARC JACOBS JA’DORE which is now archival given MJ beauty is gone :( RIP (still finding links to both, standby)
spring cleaning.
a major part of the Persian new year. let me introduce you to my friend and life-changing organizer, Karine OCD. i was about to shell out serious cash to redesign my poorly planned closet to maximize space—but it turns out that with the right organizers and the right eye, you can solve the issue.
«for all of y’all asking, “why is jasmine—who is so very organized and loves the act of organising—hiring an organizer?” it’s because she’s that good. she literally sees things in a way i don’t. as i like to say—she provides an infrastructure, otherwise known as a ritual, of things in their place. and you just follow the rules. when I say tears in my eyes at my new closet order, I mean it.»
morning rituals.
starting my day with bone broth. there’s no two ways about it, BRODO is best and they’re offering a subscription.
once my stomach is nice and coated I follow up with my acid drip of coffee. my dear friend, uncle Zach, recently said to me—”coffee lovers focus on the fancy coffee machine and smart coffee lovers focus on the grinder.” as i had just paid off the last of my mini LA MARZOCCO LINEA MINI ESPRESSO MACHINE on a payment plan (lol), i felt a bit frustrated because my entry-level eight-year-old grinder just wasn’t cutting it, like legitimately would not produce results—so naturally i got deep in the YouTube grinder game (or maybe a friend did for me) and after much research and trial and error, i realised Uncle was onto something. if you’re going to shell out the cash, invest in the GRINDER first. coffee mechanics second. less expensive and good.
++ (cold and affordable) my friend uses this SCIENCE EXPERIMENT for slow drip cold brew for the week.
BEANS matter too.
«if you don’t care about warranty, try eBay…»
all my love, and to hopefully making my substack a more weekly ritual hehe,
mister jizzy jas
Yesss to mornings with brodo ❤️