Taking Time to Re-Align

I originally wrote this in late August/Early September and just noticed this morning that I had never clicked "publish" on it. So here is a little bit of a throw back...

A Place of Her Own - by James C. Christensen

Do you have a "sacred grove" or a place that's like a personal  sanctuary? A place where you can go for solitude and re-creation?

I love this painting by James C. Christensen titled ever so perfectly, A Place of Her Own. He described it by saying, 

"I wanted to create a retreat, a secluded little nook filled with art and books where a woman could really get away from it all. Here, the tension melts away as lilting strains of lute music drift across the overstuffed cushions. The objects in the room represent the things that I believe are important to a full and satisfying life: Rembrandt's painting 'Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer' (culture and the arts); the medieval Unicorn Tapestries (magic and belief); maps (curiosity and exploration); sheet music (music and creativity) and the books, treasures which represent the collected wisdom of the ages. Take a close look at the books - there's one of my very favorite new books buried in there somewhere!" 

- James Christensen

For me, time like this centers me and helps me go about the rest of my roles and responsibilities in the best way. 

If how we spend our time shows us who we are, what do we see about ourselves when we look at our day's agenda?  

Knowing that life is largely about relationships, if our relationships are prioritized, who "makes the cuts" in our day to day lives? 

If our relationships are prioritized, how do we manifest the priority we place on the relationships that are most central in our circle? How are we nurturing those relationships?

For the past few weeks, I have been fortunate to have the gift of time. And yet, I cannot sit idle for forever. I know that I cannot sit here and write like this for months on end, but as for here and now, the process of putting thought on paper builds me while remembering what I already know, and leads me to implementing into better action, the truth that has already been extended to me. Inspiration without application cannot lead to edification, but rather would lead to condemnation. If writing and pondering helps me bring into action whatever truth that I know, then I can think of no better use for this gift of personal time I have been allotted for the here and now.    

I cannot sit and read and write forever though. I will have to stand up, to leave my room and to go out into the world of my roles, responsibilities and relationships, but being here with Him for this personal pondering time, for this "daily Daddy daughter date" so to speak, for this little "get away", builds me, equips me, creates me. I will need this everyday, even if there are days when my "get away" may only be a few minutes. I can live without it, but I have seen that life without it isn't much of a life. It lacks vibrance, it lacks light. So much rush, not enough hush. So much quantity, lacking the desired quality. 

I have been pruning my life lately, cutting back the branches of overgrowth, distraction, unintentional excess and setting forth more deliberately along the lines of the things that I really care about. This has required taking a deep inventory of myself, of my mind, of my desires, my hopes, ambitions and passions. The things that I have always been motivated towards and the concepts, topics and pursuits or purposes that have always, so it seems, occupied a space within my mind as well as within my heart. Like searching for a deeper purpose but the search goes on not outside of you, with a map, but within you, causing you to search and to look inwardly, probing more deeply for the purpose of your soul. Many resources have been helpful to me and I have blogged about those before, many times. 

I cannot stay in the central circle for forever, and I should not. If I really love God then I will eventually put my books down, pick my eyes up and step out into the world of my roles and responsibilities, but so much better equipped than I otherwise would have been, by taking the time to collect myself, to center myself and to learn from Him whatever He would have me know, feel, do and become so that I can then step out into the world and put on my various "hats" of responsibilities, the niece & nephew's bubbley babysitter, the sibling's sidekick, the parent's "life coach" ;) the enthusiastic employee, the friend's encourager, the available roommate, the smiling neighbor, the cordial contact, etc.   

I can't disconnect my email. I have responsibilities, but I can filter it. I don't want to disconnect my Facebook account. It connects me to some of the people I love most, but I can choose the settings on it. I don't want to delete my Instagram account, it connects me closely to some of the people I love most and they make me laugh, but I can choose to be connected beyond technology and to use it to augment and enhance the real and intentional relationships I have, rather than as a replacement of them. I can use these things to connect better, even more closely with the kinds of people who, by traveling life's path together with, will add joy in the journey toward that happy, desired "destination." I can choose to subscribe to things that will uplift me with quality and to unsubscribe from so much of the white noise that deafens my ability to hear and numbs my ability to feel.

And now, with a clearer conception of what my central spheres of influence as well as replenishment are, better knowing my personal purpose and the most prioritized people in my life, I will go forward most closely connecting with them and happily disconnect myself from the deluge of so much other excess. Putting my pen down and standing myself up, this time spent with Him will guide me in my time spent with others.