So what does this idea of creating restorative spaces really mean? We can each have our own version of this idea but I wanted to share my overarching thoughts. I chose this tagline about seven years ago and I believe more deeply with every passing year that this simple phase can actualize monumental shifts in our day to day living.
It is not difficult to see how we, as a society, have become a collective of nano second seeing, eye candy loving, information overload hopping, word skimming, fast scrolling, focus challenged, click baited, bombarded beings. Often as a response of wanting to be distracted from what’s happening ‘in real life’. Like a rock skipped across a body of water, which I have done 100’s of times growing up on the shores of Lake Superior; we, being the rock, glide quickly over the surface of life and go no deeper then when the speed we are going at slows down and we drop (like a stone) to the bottom, usually in waters ‘over our head’. This mode of operation simply does not create a grounded and focused base to live life from. Most of us know and understand this, but it may be difficult to skip off the lake before going too deep. So how do we combat the overload?
When I initially thought of restorative spaces I gravitated towards those being the ones we live in, an obvious connection from the perspective of being an Interior Designer. Then as I got more familiar with website design I realized more clearly that two dimensional spaces can have a deep impact on us as well. Expanding on that, there is the space of time and what we choose to fill all those moments with. And all this is governed by the thoughts we carry, how we see things, how we process; it’s the mind space each of us has and how we consciously (or not) deposit and withdraw beliefs from the space. In essence space is the one constant that is relational to everything.
Now about the word restorative; it has a calming, grounded, wholistic feel to it. Hearing it almost brings one to audibly exhale. As an adjective it relates to ‘bringing back to a former position or condition’ and as a noun it means ‘something that serves to restore to consciousness, vigor, or health’.
So creating restorative spaces supports what we are already drawn to in order to be more highly in tune with our true selves. The innateness of our being, who we are with no outer cloak of others expectations. Creating places, situations and thought patterns that restores our vigor and health can help unlock our ability to see the amazingness that has always been written upon our hearts. It begins to open our eyes to seeing the part of the puzzle we hold, that clicks in to all the other puzzles pieces, to create a beautiful harmonious wholistic heart centered world.
So how do we carry this out or bring this in to our day to day? It can be a combination of whatever speaks to you most. Spending time with friends, gathering with family, taking breaks and having fun. It’s embracing the lighter side of things and having open time and space to work through the distractions that inevitably present themselves. Taking walks, taking baths, taking day trips and taking time. We flourish more when we create breaks and soft spots to land in between it all. We benefit from restorative space to balance the shock of what can pop up in life. We gain bandwidth when things around us are more calm and bring contentment. It’s valuable to be able to recognize the up and the down of life and how all of it works together to build who we become over time. Restoration resides in our inner knowing that we were created for sharing our unique amazingness and radiating it into the world.
