Sacred Mundane
The art of the sacred mundane.
Sacred: dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving of great respect and reverence
Mundane: lacking interest or excitement; dull
I came across this phrase the other day and have had it stuck in my mind since. I felt the phrase resonated with me and was really drawn into the equal parts of tension and cohesion I was feeling when pondering it.
The more I sat with this, the more a visual began entering my head. Golden hour. I used to work a job that was outdoors and I worked through the golden hour. I remember I would be going about my shift and then fields around me would alter. The sun would hit just the right angle. And all of a sudden, this terrain that was interesting albeit not eye-catching a few moments before, would cause me to stop all that I was doing and look around.
It was beautifully captivating. The mundane around me was met with the sacred.
Coming across this phrase and sitting with it made me ponder what I would do if more of the mundane in my life went through a transformation of the sacred. Much would remain the same. I would still be doing dishes. Cleaning the house. Getting groceries. Folding laundry. Vacuuming. Making my drive to work.
But, with the help of the sacred, perhaps these could go through their own transformation worthy of pause and wonder.
It will likely look different from thing to thing, but when I think back to receiving the transformation of golden hour, I noted a couple of things that allowed me to fully embrace this transformation:
I looked up and paused: My job was a physical, outdoor job. I had work to do and I could have kept my head buckled down and kept going. But, instead, I would look up, pause, and be met with much beauty.
I continually leaned into the joy of it: After the first few experiences with golden hour, I started to joyfully anticipate it. I could have assumed that once I had seen it then I had seen it all, but I continued to create space for the pause when the golden hour would hit. I allowed myself to be open to the beauty of the transformation, no matter how many times I had seen it.
It’s inevitable that we get into our routines and can get stuck going through the motions. Perhaps, with the mundane in our lives, we can approach with fresh eyes next time and be open to the sacred, too.
