Family, Favorite Things, Garden, Life, Pets, Soul Homework, Summer, Travel, Universe, Writing

Sacred Space

Writer McWriterson

The word sacred has been on my radar a lot in recent weeks. One day in June, I read the word in a daily affirmation passage from a book I love.

“With the best of intentions, we often build false careers of studying the river without ever getting wet. In this way, we can ponder great philosophy without ever telling the truth, or analyze our pain without ever feeling it, or study holy places without ever making where we live sacred.”

Although I’ve owned this book since 2021 and read it on a daily basis, I didn’t consider myself to have truly read this paragraph until now. I must have skimmed in the past. The last line motivated me to look up the definition of sacred on my phone and take a screenshot of it.

There are various interpretations of the term sacred; I am using it in the context of being regarded with great respect in this post.

Since the pandemic began, my home has evolved into a place of refuge for my family and for me. It was more of a gradual transition than an abrupt about-face. I’ve always enjoyed the act of decorating my home, but up until the year 2020, I never felt like it truly reflected who I am.

family cave, baby in crib, painting, diy
Circa 2018

It reflected a style I liked, which I may have seen in a magazine or design show at the time. Or maybe it reflected a fashionable style that I believed I should appreciate.

Because I had no concept of who I really was before 2020.

My soul homework was not my doing. It came to me, and if I had told you that in 2020, you would have thought I was abducted by aliens. But you’ve known me long enough that I can be honest with you.

Circa 2022

On the inside, I now feel safe, protected, and healthy. This is reflected in both our home and my blog. Our home and my blog have both become sacred spaces for me. The first is an external sacred space, while the second is an internal sacred space.

For the sake of this post, I will talk about my external sacred space, our home.

Mike and I have been debating whether or not to take a trip this summer. We had the funds, and because we hadn’t taken a vacation since before the pandemic, we almost felt obligated to do so.

Shouldn’t we go somewhere?

We’d sit on the daybed in our backyard, our dogs on our laps, and look around at locations other than our sacred space, trying to figure out where to go. But nothing was impressing us.

We laid in the hammocks with the leaves above us swaying in the breeze, the sounds of music from the neighbors all around us from cultures everywhere imaginable, and tried to figure out where to go. But nothing sounded interesting.

Then one day, I told Mike, “I’m not interested in going anywhere. Anna doesn’t have time off. Ella has plans with all of her friends, and we live in a place where we can visit destinations in a single day. We also have all of this” as I gestured my hands around our home and our yard. Everything around me appeared to be beautiful, as if I were already on vacation.

Isn’t this paradise too?

Don’t get me wrong: I want to travel to places I’ve never been (most of which are outside of the country where I presently live), but for the time being, I’m content to stay where I am, which brings me a lot of peace. I’m not saying this to prove that I’m a better person; I’m saying it to prove to myself that I’m finally content with where I am. I’m not in a situation where I need to escape. For many years, I was.

I found a book called Your Sacred Self (there’s that word again) in the library (without looking for it), and the author writes that when you have heightened self awareness:

“By focusing your inner energy on the beauty that surrounds you, you will receive that energy from your surroundings. With practice, this kind of receptiveness will become a source of strength and sustenance in your daily life.”

I hope that everyone of us can establish sacred spaces in our daily lives so that every day seems like a vacation. This is my heartfelt desire for all of you.❤️

40 thoughts on “Sacred Space”

  1. I love that you are content to stay home rather than go on vacation. We just came back from Utah and the change of scenery was good for me and motivating. However, if I could sit outside in my backyard, I wouldn’t have wanted to go. It’s too hot now to have that simple pleasure — or to go on a walk.

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  3. I came across Your Sacred Self by Dr. Wayne Dyer many years ago, when I really needed to read it. The book had a profound impact on me – especially the spiritual part of me that had nowhere to go since I was totally disillusioned with organized religion. YES to creating a life that you don’t need to escape from. That has been my goal, and now I have it. I still do love to get away, but now I just love coming back home as well. Thank you for this post, Kari.

    Deb

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  4. I totally get what you’re saying here. There was a time when I focused much more on how our home looks, and now I focus on how it feels and functions. I focus on how we feel in it. Cane and I used to spend most of our summers on home renovation projects, and this is the first year we haven’t. We did clean out and organize our shed, but we just haven’t felt compelled to do anything else. There are things that “need” doing–I’m looking at chipped kitchen cabinets and unpainted drywall/ceiling where a cabinet used to be–but we just haven’t been willing to give up a slower pace of living. We’re going to visit family next month and we’ve taken some day trips, but other than that we’ve been so content to just be at home. More and more, my garden feels like sacred space to me. And the inside of our home. There’s so much chaos outside of it right now, but not inside.

    And for whatever it’s worth, I much prefer the aesthetic of your 2022 home to that 2018 pic you shared. It feels real.

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    1. Portland is one place in America that I’d like to visit (that wasn’t mentioned in passing in the post). Oregon, Washington, Vancouver Island, and beyond are all on my travel wish list. Someday. Not when gas prices are high, airfare is expensive, and lines are long, and travelers are angry. It didn’t appear to be the right time. But when it feels right, I’ll come to see you and anyone else I know who lives locally. I want to go on a blogging trip eventually. Pick locations where my blog friends live that I’ve never been before and explore/meet my friends in person.

      With the pictures you share on your blog and Instagram, I’ve enjoyed watching your home/sacred place evolve over time. ❤️

      It feels more genuine to me as well. I’ve also quit shopping at Hobby Lobby, which might be another reason. 

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  6. I feel you. We’ve always enjoyed time spent our house and while we love to travel…. we’re fine puttering around here as well. Someday soon we’ll embark on some long overdue renovations, but right now I can’t seem to find the energy.

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  7. I’m unsure whether I feel that any specific place in my house is sacred. For me, the time I spend with others is sacred. Especially one-on-one time with my spouse. The constant interruptions that come with smartphones (mostly work related) has caused me to feel this way.

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  9. Pre-pandemic I LOVED going on vacation (and would like to do so again one day – but not any time soon that’s for sure) and was always out of the house, it seemed like. Now?

    Now, I’d rather be home most of the time. I like it here. It’s a safe and sacred space. In fact, The Husband was gobsmacked when I agreed to go to Home Depot with him last week; something he hasn’t been able to get me to do in two years.

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    1. It took me a while to appreciate Goethe’s words: “He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.” Like Gigi, we used to love to travel, and in a way, it was a way to break away from the things we didn’t like. Always-on-always-connected sounded fishy to me in theory, and in practice it proved to weigh down on us. Travel was a break from those demands.

      Now that we’ve made our home, like Gigi said, a place where we’d rather be, the travel-itch can wait.

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      1. I really like it when you tell me a great quote. I keep a book of quotes that I add to on my soul homework table, and this one is going in it.

        I’m so glad you’ve made your home a place you want to be instead of a place you want to leave. ❤️

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    2. Oh my goodness, Gigi! That’s wonderful. When we were faced with the lockdown, we were all terrified of being cooped up in our houses. We don’t want to leave now! Of course, this may be for a variety of reasons, but it’s still quite profound. ❤️

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  10. You know how much I love your house and your decorating, too. It is definitely “you” and it feels good and has good energy. I totally hear what you’re saying about being content to just stay home. We haven’t traveled since March 2020 and I’m ok with that. There are sometimes where I feel I just want to get the hell out of here, but that’s more getting out of my neighborhood (same ol’, same ol’), not my home. I am happy with our little day trips. Those revive me.

    We might be going back to LA this October though, to see Tim. It all depends on our cat and her illnesses, as you know. If we don’t end up going, Tim will fly here.

    xoxo

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    1. I love how you can sense the positive energy in our home. That makes me happy since you have such positive energy in your home, which explains why you’d never want to go! But we are incredibly fortunate to live between two major cities and have all of the towns in between to visit on day trips. If we want to go exploring, this is a great place to be.

      I will hope for that trip to take place for the three of you in whichever way it is destined to take place. ❤️

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  11. I’d be happy to do a stay-cation if my house wasn’t such a messy disaster. Maybe someday. In the meantime, basketball has brought us on enough short trips that I do like being home, messy and cluttered as it is. Your space looks so cozy and full of personality. I love it.

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  13. Wow, I love this, Kari. I just love that your home is a sacred sanctuary. I feel that way as well, although I do want to travel (and I am going to in short order!). I love going places but I love coming home to my cozy house. This was just such a lovely look into your space and your life, thank you! xo

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  14. Oh I love these glimpses of your beautiful home! I too feel that a home should be a sanctuary, and I love that you have made it so full of comfort and joy that you don’t want to leave.

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  15. This post makes me so happy. Being content with where we are (mentally and physically) is the best gift. Home is always my happiest place, even though I like exploring other areas. (but you know *someone* makes me go away 😉)
    Your houseplants always inspire me to grow more too! Thanks for that.

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  16. I thought I wrote a comment to this, but I must have just done it in my head. (Ha!) That’s my summer lately!

    Your comments about travel really resonated. Jesse has an upcoming work trip to Ireland and EVERYONE has offered to help with whatever to get me to go with him. Ireland is #1 on my international travel wishlist BUT the timing is horrible so I’m staying home. My family is stumped, and to be honest, so am I, but not going is the decision that FEELS right. This stage comes the discernment to know some stressors are optional, and that my decisions don’t have to make sense to others and that’s a really nice place to be.

    For what it’s worth, your house feels like a sacred space to me too – at least from the pictures you share. I love homes that reflect the people in them and not just a style.

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    1. Ireland is on my bucket list as well, but I completely get where you’re coming from, Katie. I was just discussing this to a friend who mentioned that travel from California to Korea is less expensive than flying from California to Chicago. That is only a taste of how chaotic travel is right now. Mind-blowing.

      Your home has the same effect on me. If I stepped into your home in person, I’m sure I’d fit right in. That is a wonderful feeling.

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