An Inspired Morning

Labor Day weekend was spent up in the mountains of North Carolina with my family. Every morning, I would wake up and head to the sleeping porch, where I had set up a desk with all my things to start my day with a bit of sanctuary.

Each morning I pulled out the wooden chair and sat at my desk. I ran my hands over its thick wormy chestnut surface, old and worn by years of use. My eyes took in the reflections playing on the glass heart I had found on my trip to San Miguel de Allende. A handmade pottery dish, gifted to me by my best friend Cheryll on my last birthday sat next to the heart. Selenite crystals and lit candles scattered across the desk. In the background, I could hear the morning birds singing to the song of the trees waving in the breeze. As I sat down to start my writing in this enchanted corner of the world, I smelled the ambrosial combination of the crisp mountain air and the coffee my husband was brewing just inside.

Taking in this environment through each of my senses, I had stepped through a portal. I was transported to another place. I felt a noticeable shift in my mind and body. In this space of sanctuary, I accessed that inner place that can be hard to reach. It is that calm center where my deepest thoughts, feelings, and reflections stem from. In accessing that space, all of the challenges of my life did not magically disappear, but I was able to transcend—to rise above them for a moment—and truly just exist, full of wonder and gratitude.

And my surroundings played a key role in being able to access this soft internal space of sanctuary.

That glass heart wasn’t just a souvenir from my trip; it held the memory of a time when I felt full of creativity and wonder. That small dish wasn’t just a gift from a friend, but a token of our shared love and appreciation for one another. My selenite crystals and burning candles weren’t just pretty things to look at—they are a symbol of our connection to the earth and its elements. The trees and birds weren’t just a nice addition to my background; they were an indication of my smallness, my insignificance in the vast and expansive universe. And the smell of coffee brought to mind that Philip and I found meaning together in this confusing and expansive universe through our care and companionship with one another.

And as I finished my morning journaling at my desk, I felt absolutely ready to take on the day’s work—my life’s work— because I knew that regardless of what happened, this external sanctuary created for me a doorway to the sanctuary that exists within, and that sanctuary would be with me in every moment.

With love and gratitude,
Lisa