HOW DO YOU CREATE A PLACE OF CALM IN YOUR HOME?


 by Victoria Millar-Wise MDIA


23rd February 2011



Christchurch New Zealand, my birthplace, the place where my ancestors rest is currently in a state of chaos and desertion. How could the place I spent New Years Eve, only 8 weeks earlier in a South Brighton home filled with laughter, love and connection amongst loving friends be thrown back into turmoil? Why had another earthquake happened and so violently this time, when the healing from the last quake was only beginning to settle.


Having recently visited Christchurch I was well aware of the angst and upheaval that the people had suffered already. I had felt the pain and seen the damaged buildings under repair. So yesterday when I saw the heart of our beautiful city, the Cathedral, torn to shreds my heart was wrenched. To see the devastation and state of confusion as those horrifying images filled our TV screens around the world was numbing.


In vain I tried to contact my adored friend whose voice I had only heard the night before. A direct to message bank highlighted further that this was for real and immediately I began to send out huge waves of love and support. Watching the live stream events on TV was still kind of surreal, until I heard my daughter’s voice stricken with anxiety. As she spoke, telling me in detail how her heart was heaving with worry over the whereabouts of her beloved grandma, grandpa and uncle. That was when the message was really driven into the heart of home.


Now what do I mean by home? Home is where the heart is! Home - a safe place to rest your head! Home is where you connect with your loved ones! How could this be happening so close to home? How do we feel when our homes are destroyed. How do we cope when our loved ones are ripped away? Who is to blame and why? Is it a ‘ruthless act of nature’ as quoted by John Key the Prime Minister of New Zealand on worldwide TV today. 


No, it is not a ruthless act of nature. We are the ones who have been causing ruthless acts of destruction to our natural environment. Nature unleashes it’s wrath as a polar opposite to shining it’s beauty. Who are we as humans to think that we can build our buildings to suit our grand designs by tearing at and cutting away the natural landscape. We are the ones who have constructed our villages, towns and cities on unstable foundations. Who are we to continually keep taking from nature without giving something back to allow regeneration.


Now is the time for us to stand up and take responsibly for our actions and work with mother nature, not against it! 


The last 2 months of natural disaster in Australia and New Zealand cannot be blamed on nature alone. We as humans have simply not taken the steps to protect ourselves and our natural environment. We have not build in tune with the land. We have not constructed shelters thoughtfully. We have not understood fully that the earth like us, is breathing, is living and is constantly changing. 


Mother Nature is taking a stand and saying ‘WAKE UP’. These so called catastrophes have merely highlighted to the importance of creating holistic homes that incorporate and regenerate our natural environment. A place where you know you can have a calm and peace, a place of sanctuary for you, your loved ones, flowing with nature, not against it. Now is the time to reconnect ourselves to nature. Now is the time to join together and heal ourselves, our loved ones, others and our land. We need to have faith, we need to have belief and most of all we need to come authentically from our hearts and not our ego’s. 


This message has been echoed by both the Australian and NZ Prime Minister’s during who have spoken from their hearts recently. They have spoken about faith, courage and giving. The compassion and outpouring of love shown by many during the crisis’s of the last 8 weeks has been phenomenal  as many selfless people have rallied to help those who have needed help. These acts of giving and kindness have opened peoples hearts so they can again begin to feel and be totally at peace. So they can have a sense of calm and a place of sanctuary, wherever they may be. 


So how do you create a place of peace and calm in your home ?


Here are 10 tips that will set you in the right direction to creating your very own dream sanctuary home. 


  1. Connect with your loved ones often, around a beautifully set   

    dinner table and tell them something about them that you love.


  1. Incorporate an element that reflects and connects you to nature in your home be it through colour or a living object.


  1. Create ambient moods through music, candles, lighting and scented oils.


  1. Your home is not a place to impress others, make it a true reflection of you.


  1. Keep your home uncluttered and clean in every area. Letting go is great.


  1. Use natural and eco-friendly products that do not emit chemicals and cause headaches or anxiety in every aspect of your home from cleaning products, to linen, clothing and building materials.


  1. Eat raw organic foods that nourish your body and mind plus give you energy.


  1. Exercise often in a place of nature so you breathe in not only fresh air, but also connect your spirit back to the environment.


  1. Surround yourself with beauty. Think beautiful thoughts.  Be a beautiful person. Say beautiful things. Watch yourself and others glow as you touch them by your inner and outer beauty.


  1. Make responsible choices and educated decisions in your life style directions. Money is merely an exchange of energy and there is plenty to go around. If you give with a pure heart, you will receive with a pure heart.


Now is the time to take action. Make an effort to learn to understand the flow of nature and make it a priority as you move through your life being a human. 


Victoria Millar-Wise


www.createyourdreamsanctuary.com