Home as Haven: Calm Refuge in a Restless World

Care to consider home as haven? Explore with me a moment the notion of our dwellings as calm refuges in a restless world. A restless time.

Snow blanketed
lawn, deck, balcony,
and bowtie lights
flanking entrances.
Wordless welcome
like the thwumpf
of snow falling
from slate roof
and landing on
standing seam roof,
like the creak
of storm door
closing behind,
like the aroma
of pot roast 
slow simmering
and baking bread.

Is a haven different from a sanctuary, and oasis, etc.?

Yes.

And no.

All shelter. But a haven is steady in a shifting world. An oasis might succumb to drought, might wither and vanish. And a sanctuary, though similar in many respects, implies a a sacred space. A haven might be simple, personal, intimate, familiar. No formality, no urgency. Welcoming. Comfortable. Each arrival a homecoming. Home as haven suggests relief and revitalization. It invites pause. Exhale. Be.

I’ll leave you with this flashback to February 26, 2023.

Back for another
nival homecoming.
Fluttering flurries
obscuring sunset,
muting day to night, 
ground mounding, rounding
with fresh fallen snow.
The sound of no sound,
snowflakes silencing,
softening contours,
and settling scores.
Slumber’s siren song
swaddled in silver,
swirling and whirling,
mesmerizing me,
mesmerizing us
until tomorrow.
(Source: Another Nival Homecoming)

Home as haven seems seductively resonant right about now. Home as a calm refuge in a restless world.