Peace with Self - Contentment with the Journey

View of my back yard January 27, 2011 from the back deck. ~ Nita

I was recently spending some time on Facebook getting to know a few new friends better when I stumbled upon the note I'm sharing here with permission.  I felt that it was a word in due season for a lot of us, a story many of us can relate to and resonate with parts of.  Especially the healing is a process part.  It is.  So is the journey to acceptance and contentment.  You have to go through the muck of life to get to the part where you surrender and accept.  Seems like once we do we find grace and contentment with the process that got us there to begin with. 

Then there's the gratitude aspect of the here and now for my friend.  She truly appreciates the life she's created for herself as she patiently waits for the next chapter of life to unfold.  I feel this way now in my own life, having my mountain solitude and life of tranquility.  Anyhow, I hope you enjoy Marg's words as much as I did.  I'm grateful she's letting me share them with you. 

Sanctuary

by Margaret York

A few short years ago, I went through a very difficult period when trying to come to terms with the demise of a relationship in which I had been deceived and betrayed. I sought the counsel of a very wise woman who listened to my story and and my feelings of uncertainty, loss and rejection and then provided me with what at the time seemed like very simplistic advice. She advised me to:  Enjoy my home. That my home was ME. My space.  My cozy place.

Time has passed. Healing is a process, but a rewarding one. When entering my warm and welcoming apartment after a long day of work, I breathe a sigh of relief and contentment. I greet the cats and pet them, then it's upstairs to change immediately into soft, comfy pyjamas. The Food Network is on the televison, with the comforting voices of my favourite chefs. Jamie Oliver is describing a tasty, rustic dish in his soothing British accent, which lends an air of gentility. The Christmas tree lights are twinkling and outside my huge picture windows, I look down a tree-lined street of old Victorian houses, their lights shining and welcoming. In the kitchen, I'll prepare a simple pasta dish, maybe with some salad, followed by tea and a comfort dessert, all while the cats watch wide-eyed, eventually settling down to doze nearby for the evening while I relax with the Golden Girls and a good book and of course:  more tea!

I share this because of my gratitude for the wise counsel I was provided during a very sad time. Counsel that was indeed truly wise because of its simplicity, which was just what I needed at the time in order to begin to heal: that my home is ME and enjoying my home and the nourishing sanctuary it provides and envelops me with is, as Sara Ban Branach so aptly refers to in her beautiful books on the sacredness that is found in the ordinary pleasures and comforts of life:  my House of Belonging. My Home. My cozy place. My space. And in that space I find the contentment of truly being at Home with my Self.

Copyright ©2012 Nita Clewis
All rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercial use without permission is not allowed. Sharing with friends and family is warmly welcomed.