Sacred Places

I’ve been thinking a lot about travel lately. It’s been a big year with some stretch goals. I’m also a home body that forgets how important it is to get out and learn something from the world. While this summer has had me traveling from my bedroom to the office to my kitchen a lot, it hasn’t been on of expanding horizons. This winter, travel is back on the agenda and I’ve been researching a few cities I’d like to get to know. This means books and stories and dreams of sights and sounds.

All of this lead me to the thought: What are our sacred places?

We all have them — they might be your childhood home or a favorite retreat. Maybe a European city that speaks to you or a pilgrimage site, one you must always visit in Paris or Rome or New York City. Mine include our farm at home where I have to just be quiet to absorb the history. Another is Burgundy where I feel such a close connection to the town of Beaune, its history, the people, and their lives. And yet others are present in cities I love, places like Notre Dame and Versailles where I find the need to return again and again. These sacred sites may not be religious but they feed our souls. They are the places where we feel most at home, connected. Places that restore us when we visit. Places to ground ourselves.

They may be personal secrets — a place you always have to visit to remember and rejuvenate. Or they may be massive sites filled with people that you just love. The appeal might be the land or the ocean, mountains or trees. Whatever your sacred space, is it one you have to visit from time to time? Is it one you haven’t yet thought of as a place for returning? There’s much be said for seeing new countries and sites, but much also to be said for returning to those places we love.

I’m dreaming of travel this winter, dreaming of exploring new sacred spaces, of finding places that where I connect and find peace.

So, what are your sacred places? And do you make a pilgrimage often?