Your home is an altar!

People think of many things when they think of altars. For some the concept of an altar is familiar, something they can visualize, something they nurture every day. For others it is something distant and meaningless. Yet I believe that we are using altars more than we realize, and that understanding our lives and our spaces in the context of this re-purposing of terms will help us become more connected to the lives we live and the work we do in our homes and offices.

But wait a minute! Do you have an office? Is it working for you? Is it your kitchen counter or your iphone? Is it a sterile building that you dread showing up to each morning? Is it a tiny room with no windows? Is it full of potential, but completely chaotic? Whatever your personal situation may be, I want to share something I wrote to a very successful client recently:


How is your workspace working for you? It may be an important time to set aside some room for yourself, or to reevaluate your current creative context. Your perfect workspace doesn't have to be an entire room, but I believe it's incredibly important to create physical representations of your goals and intentions. Here is why:

Think of your home as an altar. It represents what is most important for your life, your body, and your spirit. On a traditional altar an object may symbolize the most sacred things in your life. The same is true of your home. Not just the objects in your home, but its spatial organization reflects what is most important. There is a kitchen dedicated to nourishment for the physical body. There is a bathroom devoted to cleansing the body externally through bathing rituals, and internally through the body's natural processes. There is a bedroom devoted to rest and intimacy, and a living room for nurturing community. When children are brought into the world, space is created for them. A child’s room usually reflects a parent’s hopes and dreams for the child, helping the young person thrive.

Do you have an area in your home dedicated to your work? Is there a room, or even a corner in a room that reflects your creativity? Is there an object on your altar that represents your work, your creative and professional dreams? If there is, wonderful! Let's take a look at it to make sure there is enough growing room, because your increased consciousness may have you succeeding in ways you didn't even know you could. But if you don't have a workspace, or it's not working quite right, what are you waiting for? If your living areas are parts of your altar then every part of it should be treated as sacred.