Creating a Sanctuary

 

 

 

"Find a place in your home

that can become a sanctuary

from the cares and worries

of the outside world."

 

Ron Rathburn

THE SILENT MIRACLE

 

 

We all need a place to rest and I am not referring to  a summer home or an island vacation.  We need to carve out a spot for ourselves where we can have immediate access.  Some of us are fortunate enough to have a large enough living space that we can designate a room or a corner to claim as our very own. 

 

I met a lady who once told me she had so many kids and extended family popping in and out, she sought out the dark space under her stair well that had been meant for storage.  She moved everything out that had been stashed in this place, and found room enough for an adequate chair, lamp and floor space for a small throw rug.  She kept a wooden box to hold her journal, tarot deck, and current book.  She would discreetly slip inside her sanctuary, closing her loved ones outside.  She took great pleasure in decorating the wooden slats with collages she made to reflect her spiritual journey.  I remember her saying, "Once you start meditating or get entranced by reading or obsessed with writing your story, who really notices what your immediate surroundings look like!"  She was joyful!

 

While reading about rituals, there was reference to a woman living in a small apartment.  She needed to have a sacred place, but no where to put it.  She finally discovered she had room in a corner behind a chair.  She placed a small table there with  her sacred inspirations, prayer journal, and candle.  With the chair in its rightful position, no one could see what was behind it.  When she turned the chair around, she automatically had her sacred space.  What is that saying, "Where there is a will there is a way."

 

As children grow up and move away, women eagerly claim the empty space for a sewing room or book room.  A friend of mine did not dismantle her daughter's room when she exited, but repositioned the furniture so she could set up her massage table to share energy work with friends.  Voila, it was perfect!

  

Although it may not be ideal for all of us, one woman I know uses her bathtub.  She keeps candles and music in her bathroom for her daily 'soaks' which provide inspiration.  Another friend uses a potting shed during the warmer months.  So we can use anything available, we just need to be creative. 

 

Our sanctuary is more about honoring ourselves than it is about having a chapel custom built in our home.  It is about experiencing an established emotionally safe place where we can just 'be' without a lot of orchestration.  We deserve a designated sanctuary where we can return to over and over again where our body, mind, and spirit can just unfold.