Tending Ourselves + Sacred Spaces

My husband Michael and I recently sold our very first home and moved into a charming old house in the city while we map out our journey. Settling into a new space, or rejuvenating an existing space, is such a magical process to me. I prefer items and spaces to have purpose and usefulness, and enjoy a minimal approach to curating a hearth space. Each dwelling that I’ve ever lived has had that one room in it that is the living, breathing, heartbeat of the home. Growing up it was our parlor, a room that in a Victorian Farmhouse is designed with just the intent of gathering around the physical hearth. Then most of the places through my twenties it became the kitchen. In most cases of the small one bedroom apartments I’d rented, the kitchen was somewhere among the main living space, which meant the record player spinning while meals were being prepped + cooked, and people gathered, happily sipping cocktails and enjoying each other’s company. Even with four women packed into a quaint flat in London, somehow the kitchen was always where we would end up crowded- the panes on the windows flung open in the springtime air, kettle whistling, and sleeves of digestives being plated for afternoon tea. Our current house doesn’t have much space to gather, a simple galley kitchen with an abundance of natural light and JUST enough room for my husband and I and four tiny feet to have a dinnertime dance party each night. Then again, we’ve only known this space during pandemic times, though I often wonder which room it would be that would draw the crowd for a Sunday supper or a birthday celebration. Nonetheless, creating sacred spaces is less about the curated pieces and places of a home space, and much more about the way those spaces hold us and the people in them, and the energy that they carry during these times of upheaval.

There are many tiny spaces of magic in this home that I would consider sacred in that they are a container for exploring my inner self + depth, and give reverence to the care and intention of the daily tasks of homemaking. They make up the sanctuary for the rhythm of our family life, which connects us to our community. The east facing window ledge in the stairwell landing that has a small point of smoky quartz, where I set my morning coffee in the trips up and down, is where the pause happens to enjoy the morning sun or a beautiful moonrise. The small floating shelf in the kitchen that holds glass jars of plant cuttings from friends or a bud vase of a fresh florals to keep me company while I make a meal. A corner windowsill with a ceramic plate that holds a stick of incense or a burning wand of dried backyard lavender while we say our morning blessing to our home, and a homemade basket with a bottle of infused vinegar and some old cloths and brushes, readied like a fierce protector to take on the multitude of spills + messes of the day. I also enjoy making an altar space to honor the lunar cycles, but each of these nesting spaces connect me deeply to the moments that hold the spiritual elements of everyday living. They keep me grounded in how I show up for myself and my family in the world and allow me to lean into the values, not just the objects in my life. What are some of the ways your home space cares for you?

Sacred spaces are those that make room for compassion, whose physical being hold good, and not stagnate, or unwanted energies. They are spaces that ignite our passions and fan the flames of our creative fires. If you are trying to identify these places in your home I suggest simply pausing to take notice of where you find yourself spending most of your time. Take notice of a window view that brings joy or a chair that rests warmly in the glow of the afternoon light. I firmly enjoy being able to reflect the gratitude in how tasks serve the purpose of my home. I find respite from long days of mothering in a few quiet minutes spent at the kitchen sink, washing dishes after meals. I find gratitude in the act of caring for the children and myself with the dish brush and water running over my hands. Which spaces or objects in your home make you feel fulfilled, create room for play, and caretake through the hardest moments?

As I grow and the children grow, I’m understanding more deeply the practice of tending spaces in our homes that hold + care for us in return. Daily rituals, devotions really, to a rhythm of living. The breath and energy of the hearth is powerful, and flows in sync with seasons + cycles. Warm, cozy and safe space to go inward in the darker months, then emerging with fertility and life as days draw longer and the light returns. Soon it will be windows open to morning birdsong and exploring all the corners of the yard for the wild things while the laundry dances in the wind. I hold hope for gathering again with women whose radical authenticity realign me with my own values. I dream colorful dreams of bright purple asters + handfuls of ripe cherry tomatoes + those sacred spaces in nature which heal me from the weariness of pandemic life. I hope you can find this space to rest, too, friends.