Welcome back to the Sanctuary . . . where once a week – on Fridays – I aim to preserve my sanity. And maybe yours, too. If you missed my inaugural Sanctuary post (the one where I explained all this), you can find it here.

Some weeks, I seem to need . . . Sanctuary . . . more than others. And this week? It’s one of those needing-extra-sanctuary kind of weeks. And I’m going to guess . . . maybe it’s been the same for you? So this week I’m going to go all out and give you, well . . . a whole lot of respite and sanctuary.

Ready?

Starting Off With Something Lovely

Let’s head to Paris for just a minute . . . to visit a (relatively) new museum there. Located in the Bourse de Commerce, the Pinault Collection is a fascinating meld of historic architecture . . . and a huge private collection of contemporary art. (You can read more about it in this article from Condé Nast Traveler.) I stumbled onto this place when a little clip on Instagram (of course) showed up in my feed last week . . . and I was hooked!

This first short YouTube clip shows a current (or maybe just recent) exhibit that I found fascinating and soothing. The second clip is a quick little time-lapse video showing a behind-the-scenes look at the installation process.

Enjoy!

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Words of Wisdom for Troubling Times

I follow Brad Stulberg (he is an author and a faculty member at the University of Michigan) on Instagram. I’m not sure how I “found” him, exactly, but The Algorithm served him up on my feed a while ago . . . and I’ve discovered that he often has just the right words for me on almost any given day.

This week, he offered these words . . .

We are living in crazy times, but then again, times are always kind of crazy.

What’s new is the amount of overload and overwhelm. On the one hand, it’s tempting to check out completely. On the other hand, you can try to follow every single thing at every single moment and lose your mind. Neither of these approaches is particularly helpful.

What is helpful: picking your spots, not getting caught up in sheer stupidity, surrounding yourself with good people, standing up for what you believe in, embracing nuance when it’s there, and finding things that make you feel alive.

This particular Instagram post (linked here) is a series of slides that comprise a guide . . . for staying informed, making a difference, and keeping your sanity. And, yeah. I didn’t read anything I hadn’t already heard or read before . . . but . . . for me, these days, I seem to need the constant reminders that . . .

  • Taking action is better than sitting in anger.
  • It’s alright to NOT know everything about everything.
  • I need to set my own boundaries for when to engage and when to rest.
  • Kindness is always the right answer.
  • It’s important to do real things in the real world.
  • I need to give my attention and energy to the right stuff.
  • It’s best to practice my emotional flexibility by committing to wise hope and wise action.

Like Brad says, “You don’t have to pretend that everything is fine when nothing feels fine. At the end of the day, it’s about accepting reality, creating space to feel what you are feeling, separating what is within your control from what is not, practicing emotional flexibility, protecting your sanity, and finding things that make you feel alive.”

A Kate Bowler Pep Talk

Because . . . we don’t always feel “shiny and optimized.” Even when the seasonal calendar turns over. Because life just keeps . . . life-ing.

Hope . . . In a Garden

Okay. I had to think long and hard about including this video in the sanctuary this week.
Because it’s long. (32 minutes, give or take a few seconds.)
And it’s going to sound boring to some of you.

But.

When I watched it, I knew it belonged here this week.

The video is called The Rose Ark, and it’s the story of the beginnings of Floret Farms’ historic rose preservation project. It’s an absolutely lovely film . . . about gardening on a grand scale. About preservation and conservation. About being just a “regular person” who is choosing to do the next right thing. And mostly, it’s about . . . hope . . . in a beautiful, secure future.

I hope you’ll be able to find 32 minutes of time . . . to refresh yourself and feed your soul. Grab your knitting or your stitching . . . and watch!

Flowers ARE magical.

Because We All Need a Laugh

And, really . . . I’m including it because my sister needs a laugh and this little clip should do the trick!

And that’s it for this week.
I hope you found some sanctuary here today.
At least for a few minutes.

Enjoy the weekend!
Find some joy.
Protect your peace.

Resist, my friends.
Resist.

(And just a reminder: Tomorrow is a big day. Make your voice heard. Take a stand! Make a sign and make a difference.  There are over 1,800 peaceful protests planned for tomorrow. Join one near you!)