Sacred Ribeye

Rituals in a world of endless choice

I want to talk about ritual.

Every Thursday, I have steak for dinner. Thursday is “steak night.” Everyone in my circle knows about steak night. I turn down invitations for events taking place on Thursdays and my friends will nod and remember, “Oh right, it’s steak night!”

We know what we’re having for dinner on Thursdays. Each week, one of life’s many choices is already made. The choice of what-to-have-for-dinner is a deliciously foregone conclusion. I advocate for Steak Night as more than an opportunity to eat tasty food, but as ritual to feed the soul as the week wanes. I consider Steak Night a legitimate health practice.

On Thursday evenings, our plates are celebrations of life. We source local, humanely raised beef. We cook it lovingly and light a candle at the dinner table. We say a prayer over our plates and savor every life-affirming bite. Going into Friday and the weekend, we are renewed and re-energized.

The red meat replenishes what has been depleted by the busyness of the week. Steak is a vitamin. Steak Night is a self-care practice. It imbues a sense of calm and certainty, a buoy to swim to in a turbulent sea of workdays. An opportunity to refuse all other options in service to the proliferation of something that we love and know beyond the shadow of a doubt serves us. Any other night we can explore our options, but Thursday is Steak Night.

In a world of too many choices, there is safety and comfort in routine. Recently, I’ve grappled with trying to pick one out of 50,000,000,000 paint colors for the exterior of my home. While navigating a world with endless options, it is liberating to remove the destabilizing illusion of choice.

Steak Night is an exercise in commitment and a celebration of quality. One hundred percent of the time, it feels good to treat myself to something that I know will serve my tastes in the moment and my body in the long run.

In a world of fires and floods, consider this your invitation to discover and commit to your own small ritual. If you’ve already got one, cherish it (and share it below, please).

P.S. The first gift Marco ever gave me was this heart-shaped ribeye for Valentine’s Day and that basically sealed the deal right there.