Sanctuary, Revisited...

I spend a lot of time at home. Like a lot.  And this home of mine has become this living retreat.  I didn’t buy the home to curate that, but it is what happened nonetheless...

Perhaps maybe not everyone’s idea of a retreat...but for me, a living, daily respite from all the world.

I have enough small projects to keep me occupied.  I have big ones too, just lack the funds currently to make that happen.  But one day...

I have enough animals to keep it interesting and loving.  If you ever get a chance to meet my cats, you will see that I am a great cat curator.  All of mine are sweet, loving and with just enough spice to keep it interesting around here.

The indoor and outdoor spaces are plentiful.  Lots of places to sit and ponder, lounge in the sun, lounge in the shade, read, repose and relax.  And I actually have the time to enjoy said spaces today...

I never knew what it felt like to fully occupy a home.  To really make it yours.  To curate all the spaces and items so that they reflect you and your inner way of being.  Sanctuary can mean a great many things to different people...this respite of mine feels both comforting and inspirational...and I wake up every single day here falling a little more in love with it.

Sure, it could be larger and more grand. But it is really perfect for me.  As the children leave, I am reclaiming the spaces they alight and turn them into new spaces that allow me to host guests or just create yet another space to enjoy.  Riley is moving out the end of the month and that frees up space for me to create a guest suite.  I will miss him greatly, but am excited for the ability to host friends and loved ones in the future.  A stand alone space for guests to enjoy so that friends can come and revel in the sanctuary also. And a place for Riley to come back to if he should ever need to...

I never knew I needed a true home base.  Moving around like I did, I was always recreating home wherever I landed.  And that was ok, until I landed in this home in this town 16 years ago and found out what it is like to put down roots.  To really inhabit a place, to truly find a home.  Military life as a child and young mother only underscored my innate tendency to move when things got boring, hard, weird or familiar.  I have grown exponentially over the last 16 years by just staying put in this space, that reflects me and all my glory, and the not so glorious parts, with an ever deepening vibe year after year. I can see the layering of my growth and change internally and in every layer of plant, animal, crevice that I lay down in this spot.

It is a great gift to wake up every day in your own curated sanctuary...

Again, still...