Sabbath for Sanctuary

A sanctuary is a sanctum, a sacred and protected place of beauty, grace and refuge. Our home and garden is a sanctuary for body and soul; it embraces us and brings us back to center. When we take sanctuary, even for brief moments, we are re-created, recharged, healed, soothed, comforted and at peace.

One of my New Year's resolutions is: 

Sanctuary: I intend to care for my land with discipline and ritual, and create a home that is a peaceful and well-ordered sanctuary for those I love, because maintaining my land in good order is the honorable and sustainable thing to do, and is one way that I show reverence for the Earth and for God.

What I like about this resolution is that it encompasses my home, my land, my family and friends, the Earth and God. It helps me to de-compartmentalize my life and see it as a whole.

I hope to continue to define and upgrade our sanctum, an ongoing discipline of inner work (seeking inspiration, and upgrading my habits) and projects (creating a place of peace that expresses who we are).

Agenda:

1. Read Happier at Home

2. Spring tidying

3. Spring cleaning

4. Spring gardening

1. Read "Happier at Home":

I'm reading Happier at Home, by Gretchen Rubin (2012). I liked her other book, the Happiness Project (a kindred soul, who would make happiness a project!)

The first chapter is Possessions, not because these are the most important aspect of home, but because they can weigh you down. I agree with her that the right possessions do matter to happiness: Owning a good tool or a pretty sweater upgrades my experience of life, when I pay attention. 

Yet, like many people I feel a great need to simplify. My possessions are overwhelming me, especially the shelves and boxes full of notebooks and papers. Sometimes I'm able to throw a notebook away after just a glance, but usually I need to look through each collected piece of paper to judge if I'm ready to let it go. The discord I feel is a combination of visual chaos and time-pressure tension.

But Gretchen reminds me to keep a balance of simplicity and abundance: Too much simplicity could also create anxiety. Gretchen says, "I wanted the sense of ampleness and possibility, with beloved objects, plentiful supplies, and a luxuriant disarray". 

It's a matter of engagement. How do I engage with my possessions in a way that gives me happiness rather than anxiety? Gretchen says in two ways: With use and with response. It's not that I want an empty shelf, but I'd rather fill the shelf with things I will use or which evoke a peaceful feeling.

I need to give more prominence to the things I own that matter to me, so I can use them and engage with them. And I need to sort out and discard the things that make anxious, one at a time.

2. Spring tidying:

My plan for today, because it's my sabbath, is to take some luxurious and reverent time with papers. I'm going to spend four short periods of time looking at all the notebooks, files, and loose papers on one shelf in my study, and try to make space for my altar tray.

3. Spring cleaning: 

This month I've been cleaning windows, inside and out. Some windows in my house weren't cleaned throughout the pandemic - an indication of the state of my mind. Cleaning these requires a duster for cobwebs, a scraper for paint, and then several washes, but oh the joy of looking through sparkling clean windows! Today I'll finish the kitchen windows.

4. Spring gardening:

We've finished most of our spring planting, and now we just need to keep plants alive: Water, weed, tend. A daily garden devotional.

I remind myself today to take it slow. Savor and be aware of the garden: Acknowledge my plants as living beings and listen to what they are saying. Ask what I can do to make their situation better. Wish each plant well: May you grow strong and healthy.

Today I will indulge myself with the sensations of the soil, the sun, and the scents.