Birdcages, Chandeliers & Purple Blankets

I love my bathroom. I have always found comfort in the running water of a bath. For my 40th birthday, my husband gave me a new master bath. Because the master bathroom is not a place that visitors to my house often wander, let me shed some light on this sacred space. I designed it. It is entirely black and white. It has antique tile. The wallpaper (yes, this is something that people today still use) has black and white birdcages. These are big birdcages, each 12' to 18' tall. There is a freestanding tub with a chandelier above it. Yes, this is a completely impractical room. I'm sure that the next owner of this house will change everything. I don't care.

I don't have expensive sports equipment. I don't have fancy toys. I don't gamble. I don't drink. I don't have fancy purses or shoes. I have a bathroom. With a chandelier.

Almost every night I lie on my bathroom floor. While in earlier years of my life this may have been a distressing scene, it is a normal and comforting one in this season. I have a large basket that holds fluffy blankets. I have throw pillows that I keep close by. When I am ready to unwind, I set up my pallet on the floor, complete with my laptop, headphones and my Coke. Most nights, my family gets in bed and I am on the bathroom floor. About once a month, Lucas wakes up in the middle of the night to find me sleeping there. I just get so darned relaxed! 

Netflix shows are watched in my bathroom. Sporting events are streamed in my bathroom. Podcasts are listened to in my bathroom. I am actually writing this blog from my bathroom floor. Odd? Perhaps. But, did I mention that I don't care?

There was a time when I would have felt incredibly guilty for this space. There was also a time when even when I was in my space, I wasn't able to ignore the phone or lock the door or turn off the day. I am getting better at all of these things. 

This is my time. This is my space. Some people find it in exercise. As much as I am growing to love yoga, I am still not relaxed in my practice. When I am lying on my fluffy purple blanket and have my headphones on, I can find my center. My best sermons are crafted in this space. My deepest prayers are prayed on this floor. My creative dreams are ignited in these 4 walls. My physical body is relaxed in a hot bath with the chandelier sparkling above me.

And these birdcages? Well, they are a reminder to me of the unique, whimsical, creative and very worth it person that is being filled up so she can be set free to fly. 

It may be your car or your bed or your chair or your porch. It may be your backyard or your craft room or your yoga mat or your reading nook. Make a space for your heart, mind, soul and body to be nurtured. Protect that space as your own - even when all the littles and spouses and cats and dogs want to invade it. And then, hide there. For 5 min or 5 hours, give yourself the gift of a big deep breath of rest. I can promise that you will be changed.