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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.

🙏🩵📚

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.

🙏🩵📚

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.

🙏🩵📚

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

“Ritual is one of the few things we know work.”

On this episode of In The Spotlight, bestselling author, journalist, and cultural thinker Bruce Feiler ( @brucefeiler ), joins Abigail Pogrebin ( @abbypog ) for a powerful conversation about why rituals matter — especially in times of change.

Watch Bruce Feiler unpack the surprising decline of modern rituals — and why reclaiming them may be more important than ever.

Bruce’s new book, A Time To Gather, is available now.

Watch the full interview via the link in @abbypog bio.

#InTheSpotlight #AbigailPogrebin #BruceFeiler

Part adventure story and part practical manual, A Time to Gather is a a tool kit to help us connect in a digital world that's pulling us apart. In this book you'll travel with Bruce Feiler to sixteen countries on six continents, attending some of the most unique rituals in the world. But beyond this adventure, you'll learn how to create your own rituals -- at home, at work, and wherever you are looking to add meaning to your life. Start reading at the link in bio.

Comment RITUAL and I’ll DM you a link to this week’s episode with the wonderful @brucefeiler.

New York Times–bestselling author Bruce Feiler is back after just a few years with another great one, A Time to Gather: How Ritual Created the World—and How It Can Save Us. Today, he reveals what he’s learned about the rise of reinvented rituals. He shares some incredible stories of people around the world who are creating rituals for all kinds of moments—from celebrating professional and personal milestones to honor walks for organ donors, miscarriage rituals, and Taylor Swift divorce parties. He also guides me through a ritual design class in real time, showing how simple—and powerful—it can be to create a ritual of connection in our own lives.

There is a “renaissance of ritual gatherings,” from gender reveal parties to father-daughter dances to recognizing a lost job or home, author @brucefeiler says, adding that the practice could help Americans combat the loneliness epidemic.

Feiler shares about what he learned from traveling to 16 countries for his new book, “A Time to Gather.”

Link in bio to buy the book. CBS earns commission on purchases through Amazon.

And so it begins. A TIME TO GATHER is now on sale. I wrote this book in a moment of pain and confusion in my life. After Linda and I dropped Tybee and Eden at college, I walked through our front door and felt homesick in my own home. It wasn’t just the absence of those 20 fingers and 20 toes. All my relationships felt asunder. I had recently lost my dad and was losing my mom; my marriage needed to be renegotiated, my friendships remade.

All around me, people were leaving relationships, losing jobs,o feeling guilty that we’d abdicated our loved ones for our phones. Everyone was experiencing a kind of existential homesickness.

I needed something to anchor me and went looking for solutions. What I found was not a startling story hiding in plain sight: the renaissance of ritual.

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 reimagining how to mark life, love, health and family — and forging thriving communities in the process.

I spent the next three years attending joining in life rituals in 16 countries on six continents; interviewed a hundred ritual designers; and read 500 academic studies on how rituals make our families, our neighborhoods, and our communities stronger.

A TIME TO GATHER is a great adventure story, a practical manual, and a tool kit for turning everyday moments into unforgettable celebrations. It’s also an invitation to reconnect and rejoice—together.

In the book, you’ll learn:

✅ the science behind how rituals work neurologically, physiologically, and emotionally

✅ how rituals create belonging during any transitions, from joyful ones like weddings, graduations, and births to mournful ones like the loss of a loved one, a job, or a pet

✅ the five things to do to make any ritual gathering more successful

✅ how to create small rituals at work, at home, or with friends

Thank you for all your love and support, for sharing A TIME TO GATHER with friends and colleagues who love rituals, and most of all for reading and caring about my work for all these years.

Let’s do this! 🔥

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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