Sanctuary.
This word keeps coming back into my thoughts.
According to the dictionary, it is a "protection or a safe place, especially for someone or something being chased or hunted."
This word also brings back memories of holy buildings, monasteries or churches where we used to go on symbolic pilgrimage when I was a kid.
My sanctuary is where I can detach from the mundane life and connect with my higher self. When I can listen to the universe - god, consciousness, the field, the soul, or however you call it - whispering. When I can ask the questions that have no answers.
In many fables, the sages live on top of a mountain. The medicine men used to go to the sacred mountain seeking answers. And religious people go to their temples.
What about now? Now that we are all locked within the walls of our houses. We can't climb any mountains; we can't sit in our temples. We can't even walk out in nature.
Yet, to me, having a sanctuary is vital.
The environment is undoubtedly essential. Nothing opens my mind as being in nature, the shore with the waves before me or the top of a mountain closer to the sky. But my sanctuary is, most of all, an inner state. So, I try to create my personal sanctuary every day.
I do it early in the morning when everything is silent. I have a ritual, a sequence of steps I do every morning to get me to that place of full presence.
My sanctuary.
Going there every morning, even if only for a few minutes, keeps me grounded.
“Your sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again.” ―Joseph Campbell