Word of the Year: Sanctuary
I made a decision to create a Sanctuary this year – to make my home a sanctuary, make my mind a sanctuary, make my yard a sanctuary, make my car a sanctuary, and make my friendships / motherhood / marriage into living sanctuaries as well. There is a song by Toni Jones I used to listen to while walked to teach at Greenbriar Community School a few years ago. It’s called Sanctuary:
When I was meditating on what I wanted to experience this year, I realized it was Sanctuary. What do I mean by “sanctuary”? I mean a place of reverence. I want my ENTIRE LIFE to feel like a sanctuary – I want my ENTIRE LIFE to feel holy, sacred, and expansive in the ways only a sanctuary can provide. How does community function inside a sanctuary? What about family? Or the self? What does a sanctuary look like? Sound like? Smell like? When I close my eyes and I imagine my life as a sanctuary I imagine an area free of clutter, with only the essentials (including art, spiritual tools, and other non survival essentials), everything organized, a sacred place for each and every thing that we own. I imagine a place where we can gather with loved ones, or take quiet moments of gratitude, or engage in creative endeavors. Music. Art. Beauty. I see tall trees and flowers and I hear bees and I feel the freshness of the air and every ounce of my skin is charged with electric gratitude. I see intention. I see care. I see sacred. I see reverent. I see thankful. I see holy. I see peaceful. I see joyful. I see heartfelt. I see the expression of darkness and light alike. I see a safe place to be myself. I see a safe place to let my guard down. I feel an ancient connection. I am in awe.
sanctuary
/săngk′choo͞-ĕr″ē/
noun
- A sacred place, such as a church, temple, or mosque.
- The holiest part of a sacred place, as the part of a Christian church around the altar.
- A sacred place, such as a church, in which fugitives formerly were immune to arrest.
Creating a Lifestyle of Sanctuary:
- Tech Free Time
- Journal before opening the phone in the AM (Write down dreams!)
- All tech off in whole house after 9 pm
- No scrolling or shows after dark (only computer / creative work)
- Focus on Rituals / Habits that are in Alignment with Who I Want to Be
- Full and New moon calls with Trio Tribe
- Hiking during work calls
- Reading *Real* Books After Dark
- Candles During Meals
- Systems and Routines for Chores
- MUSIC! All day, please! Let. Us. Sing. Let. Us. Dance.
- Deep thought and time to Meditate
- Do What I Love
- Delegate what I don’t love
- De-clutter my house
- First we got a larger storage unit and began hauling load after load of items we are not currently using. I went through our clothing, our kitchen items, bathroom, etc….. A WHOLE HOUSE WEED OUT in January 2026 was COMPLETE!
- Now that I am back from Anarchapulco, I plan to do one more whole house weed-out, then begin the process of sorting and DECIDING about all the items in storage. What do we want to keep for future generations, what can be sold, what can be given away, etc……..
- My plan is to have the storage unit organized, and anything that needs to be sold, or donated, or trashed, or otherwise rehomed, OUT so that we can move what we DO use and love into storage while we have a house sitter this summer.
- Finish Outside Remodel
- Siding
- Gutters
- Paint
- Fence around front porch
- Retaining walls for erosion
- Cut down invasive trees
- Plant orchard (I have 200 trees arriving in April!!!!!!!!!!!
- Remove stressors from my life
- This began last year with the removal of the goats, and my refusal to take on more than I am capable of in my schedule.
- This will continue this year as I remove myself from situations that cause my nervous system to activate repeatedly.
- If I cannot remove myself, I will create systems that allow my nervous system to function within the obligations I have in my job, community, family, etc…..
- I will be incredibly picky with my time and energy and who I invest my life force energy into.
- Declutter my schedule / calendar
- Do Less!
- Do Less!
- Do Less!
- Do Less!
- Do Less!
- Simplify and automate Anarchapulco, Liberpulco and NonConforist Series
- Auditing all areas of the organization and finding places where we have time or energy leaks, and create better systems.
- Continue use of Calendly for appointments
- Simplify and automate the homestead (dog watering systems, dog feeding systems, duck pond systems, dish washer)
- Float tanks for water for all animals
- large feeders for dogs and cats in addition to the chickens
- irrigation for the garden
- Focus on Food Forests
Additional Goals I have for 2026, that will help me BUILD my Sanctuary:
- One Blog post per week
- As of today I’ve made OK progress on this. This is the 10th week of the year, and this will be my 6th blog post. I am OK with it. I am going to try and go back and make up those five, but only if there’s a genuine subject I feel called to write about!!!!!! I missed every single week I was in Mexico for Anarchapulco. Maybe next time I’ll try to pre-write some and have them scheduled to post while I am on the road!!!!!!
- Start to re-write my book from my healed perspective
- I am really proud of my story, and the book I have begun to write. I also, want to make sure I’m telling my story in a voice that properly represents who I have become while experiencing then healing and growing. I am a totally different person now, and have a completely different perspective. I am ready for a whole book reread and rewrite.
- $40k saved by June
- I have some ideas for big life goals and projects I want to accomplish. I am going to do everything I can to downsize our spending (I already wrote a blog about the work I did on this in 20205) and increase our income in creative ways. Currently my husband is looking for his next calling and I have decided that we will GROW our savings, even without him currently employed. Yes! Its working so far!!!! Lets keep GOING!
