The Christian faith first conceived of the idea of “retreats” – escapes from the distractions of life and from the rigors of religious worship, study,  and fervor. Although they did not use the term, the ancient Greeks also practiced the idea of removing oneself from ordinary life in order to reflect, find peace, and pursue the joy of self-discovery.

Joseph Campbell wrote that the idea of the sacred space was as old as myth. The church, he wrote, still offers retreats, “but another way,” he wrote, ‘is to have your own little tabernacle, your own sacred space, from which you exclude everything else.”

I have my own tabernacle.

The idea of the sacred space, from which everything else is excluded, has never seemed more precious, urgent or necessary than it is today. Technology has imprisoned us with information, some of which we want, some of which we don’t but little of which we can escape. On social media, no one is permitted to think, only to send and react. Every idea is  trodded upon before it gets to take a breath.

There is no boundary between home and work, no distance from argument, hatred and violence anywhere in the world, few of us ever have time to be completely by ourselves to just think.

I have a sacred space, it is a corner of the farmhouse living room.

Every day, late in the afternoon, when my day work is done, I turned of my computer and phone, sit in a chair and read or meditate or just drink up the silence and be alone. It is sacred time, so valuable to me. It permits me to be calm, to read, think and be still within myself. I could hardly live without it, and almost every good idea I have ever had occurs within it.

Inside that space, I remember who I am. Inside of that space, I learn who I am.

I never have enough time in my sacred space, and rarely miss being there. The outside world is hermetically sealed off from the inside, and I do not permit intrusions or interruptions.

What is a sacred space, precisely?

A sacred space is any space that is set apart from the context of ordinary life.

Sacred space has no utilitarian function, it is not about earning a living, gaining fame, or improving on work. Practical usage or reward is not a feature of anything inside of the space. Neither is any kind of news, argument, information technology such as e-mail or phones, or the presentation of hatred and cruelty.

The purpose of the sacred space is to bring harmony and self-awareness to your own life. it is not about them, it is about you. Nobody else. It is the place filled only by me or you.

Your sacred space, writes Campbell, is where you can find yourself again and again. I often lose my way, and the sacred space is where I find myself almost every day.

In the sacred space, peace is internal, joy comes from inside, not something experienced from the outside that brings joy to you. It is  place that permits you to expand and understand your own will and your own intensions and truth own wishes. I am in need of such a place and I believe everyone else, whether they know it or not, is in need of such a place.

Campbell conceives of sacred space as a playground. Older people no longer play with toys, but instead with life experiences, accumulated wisdom and entertainments.

In my sacred space today, I read from books I have been meaning to read but never get to, and I found this in the Kabbalah:

“One great thing about growing old is that nothing is going to lead to anything, everything is of the moment.” That was the idea I played with in my sacred space playground today.