Sanctuary

A safe haven.  A port in the storm.  Sanctuaries can be anywhere a person feels safe and at peace with themselves.  Writers need their own form of a sanctuary whenever they sit down to write.

I don't have the luxury of jetting off to some tropical shore for the chance to write my next great novel.  I live a life full of commitments and obligations to others and I find precious little time to indulge in my writing.

Maybe you are the same way?  Do you compete with the children for the dining room table?  Or maybe you stay up late, curled up in a favorite chair and madly typing away at your computer while the rest of the world sleeps?

When my son moved out of the house last year,  I decided to turn his bedroom into my private study.  My own sanctuary where I could indulge in my love of both reading and writing.  It took me a very long weekend to remodel, but in the end I created my own "safe" place where no one judges me.

It started with a nice glider rocker where I could put my feet up and relax.

I then added a place for my cat to curl up if he wanted, and a small bookshelf for reference materials.  If you look closely, you will see a copy of probably one of my all time favorite books...The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

I knew my writing would be very important to me so I chose carefully where I would do my best work.  I love the old time look of a roll top desk and this one was soon added to my sanctuary.  On my dry erase board is the date of my first submission to a publisher...and the silence that came with it shows me that my first "rejection" wasn't so bad after all.  At least it didn't stop me!

There is a non-working fireplace on one side of the room.  No matter, I just stuck some silk seaweed in the hole and my seal family got comfortable.

I just might like the mantel the best.  I threw sand down and covered it with shells.  The artwork is something I created myself and next to my angel is a copy of my poem "Angel By The Sea".  You can read it in my blog post here ( http://donasdays.blogspot.com/2012/01/angel-by-sea.html ).

Of course I had to have lighting and a place for my laptop.  My credenza and chest has an old world map design to them which fits very nicely into the theme of the room.

And last, but not least, some wall accents.  

I love my studio and actually no one but my cat is allowed in there.  I can sit there, surrounded by the smell of beach and books...knowing that if I close my door, I shut out all the distractions of the outside world and can find peace in my own sanctuary.

And where does my son get to sleep now?

When he comes for a visit, he gets the recliner in the living room...;0)