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How sacred is your home?
by Laurine Morrison Meyer
An excerpt from the book Sacred
Home: Creating Shelter for Your Soul
(Llewellyn)
 When you enter your home, do you feel as if you are entering sacred space?
Do you look around at your surroundings with an attitude of love and appreciation?
Does your home reflect your personal expression of who you are? Do you detect an
animating life force throughout your house? These questions and more can help you
decide if your home is the sacred sanctuary it could be, or if it is just a convenient
place to hang your hat, or worse, a place of drudgery demanding precious time and
money in constant upkeep and repair.
We know that our attitudes color our perceptions. If our attitude about home is one
of wearisome labor, our perception about home will be negative. We will count the
days until we can go on vacation to some beautiful area of the country or world to
find pleasant surroundings -- each day just another day of work and toil until we
can truly enjoy ourselves. We also know that there is no past or future except in
our thoughts, and the only reality is the present moment. This is why it is so important
to make our everyday environment nurturing, alive and enchanting.
You might ask, "What do we do if our home is not what we want, our furniture
is old and tacky and we have no money to replace it"? Expressing gratitude about
even the most humble abode is the first step in creating abundance. Our ancestors
lived in caves, but their decorative paintings display a deep reverence for their
shelter. No matter how bleak your current living situation, an attitude of thankfulness
for shelter is very important. Send love and goodwill to all of the world's homeless
people, those without even the barest levels of protection and nourishment. Then
set about enlivening your own personal space with ingenuity and a few creative inexpensive
ideas.
You don't need lavish furnishings and accessories to create sacred space. Believe
me, I have designed homes where money was no object, and the lack of sacredness due
to negative attitudes or misguided priorities was palpable. You can find delightful
soul-filled objects that have been discarded for little to no money. Perusing junk
stores and flea markets has become a fashionable activity, but the idea of recycling
cast offs and/or repairing broken, yet still functional, artifacts is a creative
way to furnish your home on a tight budget. Plus, it helps relieve the growing amount
of waste so rampant in our society!
For several years I lived in an isolated community 100 miles to the nearest shopping
center. As I walked in the desert, I found incredible objects both manmade and nature's
own. Without spending anything, these "found artifacts" became delightful
additions to my own home. One year I made small shrines from old rusted boxes thrown
away years before by prospecting miners. Bits of colored glass, a picture of a sacred
deity or ancestor, small brightly colored beads, a little paint and a candle stub
became a piece of folk art that doubled for a sacred shrine. Another time I used
candles, the kind that come in glass containers sold at grocery stores for around
a dollar, I then made a copy of a meaningful picture and glued it onto the candle/jar.
The pictures might be of a special bird or animal, a saint, deity or tarot card,
whatever has significance for you. And when the candle is lit, the self-contained
candle becomes a sacred artifact. Even without creating man-made objects, materials
found in nature like unusual rocks, feathers, shells, flowers, leaves, pine cones
and fruit can be arranged in a bowl or basket and placed on a table top to become
a soulful display.
Another thing that you can do to create a sacred atmosphere in your home is to tend
your home with love. When you care for your home with reverence, your home repays
you with warmth and protection. When you clean your home, think of it as tending
a sacred space. Rather than using artificial air fresheners, spritz the air with
water in which a few drops of essential oil has been added. Play uplifting music
as you work and light a candle in a safe container after each room has been cleaned.
A feather duster and broom or vacuum do more than remove dust, they also move unseen
stagnant and sometimes negative energy. Keeping the air in our homes refreshed is
important for removing physical and psychic pollutants.
Do you have a view of nature from your windows? If so, open your blinds and bring
the outdoors in. If you live in an apartment or metropolitan area devoid of trees
and flowers, it's so beneficial if you can bring plants into your environment. A
window ledge, small patio or balcony can hold a few potted plants. Installing bird
feeders outside your windows helps bring nature to you. If, due to restraints even
these ideas are unfeasible, pictures or posters of beautiful landscapes can substitute,
but hopefully only temporarily.
Your home should be an expression of your unique personality. Instead of purchasing
color coordinated accessories, display your hobbies. If you love cooking, use cookbooks,
cooking utensils, spices and jars of preserved fruits, olives or other colorful foods,
bowls of fresh vegetables and fruit as soulful accessories reflecting your personal
interests. A traveler can exhibit artifacts from travels, such as photographs, museum
catalogues, artisan's crafts, and other meaningful mementos. When you are surrounded
by the things that you love, you will feel uplifted.
We spend so much time in our homes. How wise we would be to put a little effort in
creating a supportive environment. When we create home sanctuaries, we prepare shelter
for our own sustenance; and if it ever becomes necessary to have a personal retreat,
a place to go when life offers learning experiences that feel overwhelming, our homes
will be ready and prepared to serve us.
Laurine Morrison Meyer is a professional interior designer who has practiced for
more than 20 years. She has taught interior design in California and France, and
currently divides her time between a home in the Sonoran Desert and a mountain retreat
in the Northwest. Her
book, Sacred Home: Creating Shelter for Your Soul, can be purchased by calling Llewellyn
at 1-800-THE-MOON (1-800-843-6666), or online at www.llewellyn.com. Sacred Home can
also be purchased at most online, chain, or independent retailers.
Copyright © 2005 Laurine Morrison Meyer. All rights reserved. |
March 2005 |
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