Recognize the Home

Recognize the Home

Dawns Ritual

We make a place.
We give it our attention.
And we allow the ordinary to become capable of receiving the sacred.

Recognize the Home

Ritual of Recognition

Stand somewhere within the place where you are presently living.

Do not improve anything.

Do not clean anything.

Do not arrange anything.

Simply look around.

Notice three signs that your life is here: something you use, something you have placed, something that carries evidence of your presence.

Place one hand against something belonging to the dwelling—a wall, doorframe, floor, table, or windowsill.

Say:

This is the place that holds my life.

For however long I am here, I will inhabit it.

Remain for one breath.

Then continue with your day.

To inhabit a place is more than to live there.

It is to allow yourself to be present in the place that is holding your life.

We inhabit when we notice where we are, use what is ours with care, tend what needs tending, and permit ourselves to belong for the time that we are there.

Inhabiting does not require ownership or permanence. A rented room can be inhabited. A temporary apartment can be inhabited. Even a home we are preparing to leave can be inhabited until the day we cross its threshold for the last time.

You do not have to wait for the right home to begin inhabiting your life.