Rilke Muir – Life Celebrant

What led me to become a Life Celebrant

I first discovered how important it is to look at choices from the client's point of view while still at high school. I started my working life part-time at an optician's where I learnt this through helping clients choose their glasses frames. My tastes and preferences didn't matter, the person getting the glasses had to be happy with the choice they were going to live with.

Our professional role was to enhance decision-making with the benefit of our experience and practical knowledge and guide people away from potential mistakes or decisions they would later regret. The proof of success was often a client's desire to keep the same frames when they next needed a new prescription.

Later, working in children's services, I saw a myriad of ways to bring up children – all done with love and the best of intentions. I was able to support children and families in developing their own potential in a way that was consistent with each family's culture and set of beliefs.

When teaching at university I learnt that people absorb information in different ways and it is important not to rely just on words to get a message across. I now see how this applies to the rituals that have grown up around celebrations. Take for example the use of a candle at a baby ceremony to symbolise, through its light, the new life and hopes for the child. The candle's warmth is also symbolic of the warmth of human love and friendship wished for the child's support. Think as well of the emotional power of music.

As a tutor I also learnt to coax people to identify what was important to them and to be confident in their own ideas. I bring this skill to my Celebrant role to give people confidence in what they think and feel.

In my career in communications – including event management, professional writing, media production and campaigns – I refined my writing skills to meet the needs of a wide range of different groups. I learnt how to ensure an event runs smoothly and how to anticipate just about any circumstance and plan for the best outcome possible.

These are the practical experiences, learnings and knowledge I bring to the role of Celebrant.

The decision to be a celebrant was also driven by a positive desire to help people express their feelings and ideas at important times.

My own life experiences and word skills are valuable to help people who want to find their own best way to mark occasions with ceremony, vows and rituals that are relevant to their twenty-first century lives.

I believe I am a useful, supportive, positive and accepting resource in people's quest for a personally meaningful ceremony.