Sanctuary: Conclusions
My deadline for the first of my three ‘mini-projects’ is the end of August, so true to form, I’m pulling this all together on the last day of the month. There’s nothing like a bit of self-imposed pressure to get the juices flowing again is there? Truth be told though, this isn’t at all feeling like a chore. Instead it feels like one last chance to have a paddle in all the thoughts and ideas generated by my original question:
Where do you find sanctuary?
Eleven people sent me an answer, using a variety of methods, and this is what I feel that I learnt from them about where people find sanctuary.
Place
This was the answer that I was most expecting, as from the outset the link between sanctuary and place was foremost in my mind. Still though, it was very enjoyable to see the variety of places where people might find sanctuary, from offices to gardens to the seaside. Some clear themes emerged, the most prominent being the importance of re-connecting with nature and the sense of calm and privacy that can be found in your own home. It was interesting how two people both mentioned how being outdoors gave them a sense of perspective:
“By the sea. At the top of a hill. Anywhere that I can get some perspective.”
“Out walking and especially on top of a hill, mountain, fell etc somewhere where I can see for miles.”
It is nice to be reminded that a view of the larger natural world opening up in front of you can quickly place your own troubles and concerns in perspective and perhaps not so insurmountable.
Three of the respondents told me about how they had decorated their places of sanctuary to suit their needs, using either soothing blues, bold colours or references to a zombie apocalypse to create the bolthole of their dreams. This got me thinking about how you might design your own sanctuary, which is a concept I’m going to return to later.
Two last fleeting thoughts about place. Firstly, the word ‘journey’ popped up a lot in the responses, which made me wonder if for some, travelling to your place of sanctuary, undressing yourself of your everyday trials and tribulations along the way, is just as important as getting there? Secondly, I really need to go and visit Oxwich Bay.
Being
My preoccupation with the link between sanctuary and place was soon shattered through the introduction of a range of ways in which the respondents found their own version of sanctuary. We had activities (walking, rowing and reading), emotions (humour) and just interacting with the people you love. There was a strong emphasis on family here, as well as sharing time with people with similar passions or ideals.
I was now thinking that sanctuary was not solely dependent on your physical environment, but could just as easily be found through spending your time with the people who mean the most to you, or doing the activities that mean the most to you. Sanctuary was not just about seeing, it was about touching, hearing and most importantly, feeling.
A thought just popped into my head. I read ‘Playing The Enemy’ recently, within which John Carlin explores the links between Nelson Mandela capturing the hearts and minds of white South Africa and the Rugby World Cup of 1995 and I remember reading about how Mandela’s most cherished texts within prison were the Greek classics and the works of Shakespeare. So this man was trapped within a physical environment designed to break him down, but his ability to read, an activity which kept his mind alive, was absolutely his sanctuary.
All in the mind
The next idea that I was reminded of was that sanctuary is something that can be totally removed from the physical realm, as it is a place that you can travel to in your own mind.
Jackie spoke of finding sanctuary in her own imagination, a place where she has the space and time to reflect and create. Mike talked of a specific mind-set, an attitude which helps him guard against complacency and Ken and Karyn relate how they find sanctuary in their own minds, Karyn through prayer and Ken through a process he feels is akin to meditation.
So again, I’m now thinking that you don’t have to BE somewhere to find sanctuary, you don’t even have to be DOING anything in particular, you just have to be ready to travel there in your own mind.
The design and discipline of sanctuary
By now, having absorbed the answers I’d received and played around with them a little on paper, I was coming to some conclusions. What really struck me was that the people who had got back to me were not finding their own places of sanctuary by happy accident. Instead, they were exercising both design and discipline in creating a sanctuary that really worked for them, be it a place, an activity or a state of mind.
They were crafting their own sanctuaries and creating the design of their choice, either physically (decorating the office space or family room) or mentally (Ken visits the Arctic when he’s stuck on a sweltering tube carriage). These individuals had made the choice to be the architects of their own sanctuary.
And they were exercising discipline in making sure that they were able to reach their states of sanctuary. They had recognised where they were, how to get to them and that they could recognise when they needed to access them. I had a real sense that they were willing to work to ensure that their sanctuary gave them the most positive impact possible.
What I’m wondering now is, of the people who saw my original question, did some of them look at it, draw a blank and move on because they’d never thought enough about where they find their sanctuary? Perhaps not enough of us have exercised that design and discipline in identifying our sanctuary? Which would mean we would find it harder to get there and thus take longer to recover from setbacks or the problems that have been plaguing us.
I would guess that highly effective people, whatever field they might work in, have a very good handle on where their sanctuary is and can access it pretty swiftly. From a coaching angle, I think that I would enjoy working with people to help them identify their own sanctuary and recognise how they might access it when they need it.
Methods
Finally, a word on the methods I used for the first of these mini-projects. Basically, I really like using these social media tools. People could answer my question in a short sharp tweet, expand a little in a comment on my first post, or go hell for leather and write a blog post of their own, using pictures or video to add colour and insight. It’s powerful stuff and I’m keen to continue to play with it. If I’m going to get better at it though, I need to continue to build a meaningful network based on two-way communication. Twitter is based around the concept of the more you give, the more you get, which means that if I expect more people to respond when I throw out a question, I need to make sure I answer some more of their questions.
Thanks very much to all those who got back to me – much appreciated.