SCHOOL OF TRANSFORMATION...
Sanctuary Living is a school of transformation disguised as a lifestyle design company--Janene Kraft
We've all had moments that have defined who we are...this one's mine. Enjoy.
I was born in Chicago. But it is my years in Kansas City with which I most identify. My first experience with the great migration of monarch butterflies through the midwest came when I was only nine years old.
Shaking the branches of a sourgum tree and watching thousands of perceived leaves take flight changed everything about the way I viewed the world. To be so sure of one thing, “a leaf on a tree,” only to discover that one thing isn’t what you thought it was at all, “a monarch butterfly,” embeds a sense of wonder and possibility into the very core of who you are. To stand in the midst of all that color, to melt into the landscape of gold and copper fluttering in your hair and landing on your fingers makes for more than mere childhood memory.
Throughout my life I’ve discovered that transformational beauty isn’t something created but something awakened within. The inherent wonder of a person or place is hidden there. Often undetected. What is required is a little, “shaking of the trees,” to get things moving.
Over the years those butterflies have reappeared in the most unexpected places. In a tired rambler along the Lake Washington shoreline. In a Quonset hut overlooking Puget Sound. In a burnt and battered old colonial nestled on a point. On a derelict street in the heart of Hollywood. In a neglected bungalow along a vibrant citystreet. On an asphalt parking lot in the center of sin city.
No matter the condition, the vision for these places took hold and those tree-shakers that joined me in the fun were as altered and impacted as the spaces themselves. Parking lots blossomed into play-filled destinations where families reconnected with one another. Dirty streets became home to red carpets and rewards for a life’s work well done. Homes morphed from centers of chaos to sanctuaries of peace and connection.
I’ve learned that what happens in our surroundings impacts who we are. And what happens in us, impacts our surroundings. It goes both ways. It always has. Just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Inherent beauty is everywhere you look. You just have to inspire it to fly.
Shaking the branches of a sourgum tree and watching thousands of perceived leaves take flight changed everything about the way I viewed the world. To be so sure of one thing, “a leaf on a tree,” only to discover that one thing isn’t what you thought it was at all, “a monarch butterfly,” embeds a sense of wonder and possibility into the very core of who you are. To stand in the midst of all that color, to melt into the landscape of gold and copper fluttering in your hair and landing on your fingers makes for more than mere childhood memory.
Throughout my life I’ve discovered that transformational beauty isn’t something created but something awakened within. The inherent wonder of a person or place is hidden there. Often undetected. What is required is a little, “shaking of the trees,” to get things moving.
Over the years those butterflies have reappeared in the most unexpected places. In a tired rambler along the Lake Washington shoreline. In a Quonset hut overlooking Puget Sound. In a burnt and battered old colonial nestled on a point. On a derelict street in the heart of Hollywood. In a neglected bungalow along a vibrant citystreet. On an asphalt parking lot in the center of sin city.
No matter the condition, the vision for these places took hold and those tree-shakers that joined me in the fun were as altered and impacted as the spaces themselves. Parking lots blossomed into play-filled destinations where families reconnected with one another. Dirty streets became home to red carpets and rewards for a life’s work well done. Homes morphed from centers of chaos to sanctuaries of peace and connection.
I’ve learned that what happens in our surroundings impacts who we are. And what happens in us, impacts our surroundings. It goes both ways. It always has. Just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Inherent beauty is everywhere you look. You just have to inspire it to fly.
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