Thursday, November 27, 2008

Soul Coaching Day 26: A Home for the Soul

Today's Soul Coaching focus is about feeling at home and the Level 1 task is to bring nature into your home. That and today's meditation have really got me thinking. You see, I'm a city girl, through and through. I love coffee shops and public transit, meeting up for dinner and going to the movies. I love being surrounded by culture and multiculturalism. Art galleries are spiritual places to me. I love exploring new neighbourhoods, new restaurants and new ideas.

During today's meditation, as Denise described all these amazing places that you could imagine as your home, crystal palaces, open-aired temples, I simply saw myself in a fabulous detached house with a secluded garden and a studio space in a hip neighbourhood of Toronto. For real. That's where I want to be.

Don't get me wrong. I love nature. I love the beach and big trees and flowers and goodness knows I love river rocks. But I don't feel more at home walking in a forest or sitting on a dock looking out onto a lake. Nope. One of the qualities that Denise says makes a home is feeling safe. I feel safer in the city than in the woods or on the water or in the mountains. I love having the experience of those places (except for the on-the-water one) but then I want to come home.

One of the things I love about home is having a garden. In the spring I go outside every day and walk through every single inch of our little postage stamp backyard and watch things sprout. That fills me with joy. I love that we turned our little piece of ground from a nail-strewn mudpatch into a green space.

I guess today's exploration has made me think about what feels like home to me. Every time I move I realize that it has something to do with the way I place my things, how the same things are always on my nightstand wherever I live and that there's always certain things in my fridge. And of course it's my loved ones. It's creating memories in a space, each one adding another level of 'home' to our house. It's feeling like this is my space, my sanctuary, my little patch of the world, my home.

What makes you feel at home?

15 comments:

Miss Robyn said...

oh I love this post! adore it!
(how different you are to Suzie!!) - and I love her posts too.. so you see, doesn't matter if we all like the same things, we are still searching for the same thing - peace, love & joy. xoox

so I guess you won't be coming walking with me if you ever visit! We will have to go to all the little coffee shops that abound here in the mountains !!

(ps - do you know what book is for January? I am going to a metaphysical shop next week where I might be able to buy it)

Unknown said...

Good for you for being so clear about what your heart desires. May your desire manifest magnificently for you.

Paula - Buenos Aires said...

Love that picture, it´s a wonderful corner of the world. Thanks for opening your doors for us and letting us visit it. *luv*

Genie Sea said...

Well haven't you got me thinking! As I was reading your visualization of a home, I was nodding me head. I would love to be able to live in Riverdale or the Annex in an open space full of light, or a house backing into a beautiful ravine that I don't have to tend, because although I love gardens, I am not a gardener. Things that make me go hmm. :) Thank you!

gma said...

Beautiful post! Multiculture city life and museums thrill me too. So do the trees in the park. Really we can have the best of both worlds.
Love to you
xx

Tori said...

This is a wondeful post. The honesty in it rings. I love that you know just where you feel at home.

Anonymous said...

I live down the street from a house which I call my 'dream home' - From the outside I can see their large backyard + garden. Sometimes I can catch glimpses of a huge library (with a ladder!) - their kitchen is solid & welcoming with plants & joy.

Urban living doesn't have to mean barren of nature. Sometimes I think it requires a more creative use of nature in our lives. :]

Sandra said...

Thanks for this post. I love the city, and all the things you mention, but I am a nature girl at heart. I find difference so delightful.

Nadya said...

Oh, this is fun! I love having nature close by, but also people, shops, etc! When I was in the mtns, felt very safe in my little village community - & I love being ~ 6 blocks from downtown, & 13 from my office . . . this is a great sharing!

Claudia said...

I know just what you mean. I loved living in the mountains but I did feel quite isolated most of the time. Living in a small city now, I enjoy the peace inside my home but when I go outside there´s hustle and bustle. I don´t feel isolated anymore and I feel safe, surrounded also by my favourite things and people...with also a "postage stamp" of a garden downstairs.

Suzie Ridler said...

Jamie, I adore your backyard. It feels so homey, comfy and beautiful. I love that! And you're in the city. I think that shows balance. You gotta be where you're happy and safe and for you that's the city. With a dash of nature. It's perfect!

I feel better in the woods but there's gotta be a grocery store nearby. For me it's all about food and public transportation with nature all around me. Is that possible?

Suzie Ridler said...

Oh and I danced around my crafts room yesterday like the little pagan wild girl. No coven of willows but very, very happy. :)

Anonymous said...

Fabulous Jamie!
How wonderful it must be to have a house with a garden in the Utopia that is Toronto!
Perfect....just perfect.
I can't wait until I work on this part of the book. lol.
xo

Mjfontaine said...

Although I love nature I too sometimes like being in busy London, only for the reason that I can disappear amongst people and go to different shops and bookshops, and also the different shops and communities that exist here too.

I suppose I would like to live on the outskirts of the crazy city so that I can travel to get my city fix and return to peace.

I great post.

whenigrowupcoach said...

My hubby and I are SO focused on buying a place & creating a home for ourselves, that I just loved what you said about home being where you feel safe. I'm a city girl too, but am coming to terms with the fact that NYC might not be my home in another year or two - it's just too freakin' expensive to live our lives the way we want to here. We're looking at other cities, but that made me think we would be stuck in an apartment forever.

We dream of space - a garage for my man and a home office/studio for me. A guest room and 2 bathrooms. A sunroom and some grass and a walk to a park. You've expanded my mind into thinking that we don't have to give that up to live in a city.

So, how's Toronto BTW? :)