Notes on doing it — Day #40: The power of rituals
How to deal with the things you can’t control
The danish word for torture is “tortur”. And the danish word for train ride is “togtur”. Did you notice how similar those words look? It’s no coincidence. In Denmark our national train operator is called DSB. DSB should stand for Devil’s Sick Business. They make it hell to travel across this country which is an impressive feet in itself when you consider how tiny it is. Unfortunately for me, I’ve had to book such a hell trip.
This upcoming train ride has made me think about how I can make the experience more pleasent. That’s when I was reminded about a study where researchers found that we increase our enjoyment of the things we consume, when we perform a ritual beforehand.
Now the study tested this with both chocolate and carrots which turned out to have the same effect. You enjoy chocolate more when you perform a simple ritual before putting it in your mouth like breaking apart the chocolate before removing the wrapping.
Interesting, but trust me when I say this: Traveling with Devil’s… I mean DSB is as far from eating chocolate or even carrots as you can come. So performing a little dance before stepping aboard the train probably won’t make the experience any less shitty.
