Boston Book Festival

Rituals, including the taking of vows, can have a powerful and positive effect on us. Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton, in The Ritual Effect: The Transformative Power of Our Everyday Actions, argues that rituals can enrich our lives in numerous ways, from cementing relationships, encouraging staying in the moment, engendering social cohesiveness, and transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. In Vows, Cheryl Mendelson looks at the meaning of wedding vows. The practice of taking marriage vows did not arise until Medieval times– before that marriage was a contract between the groom and the father of the bride. When the idea of free will emerged, vows became important and, Mendelson believes, are still important where they relate to the interconnectedness of love, desire, and commitment. This session will be moderated by Callie Crossley, host of GBH’s Under the Radar.