Vachon Imagined

Become a refuge.

A refuge is not a person or a thing. It is a way of living.

It is life flowing through you, flowing through me, flowing through everything.

It cannot be adequately named. It cannot be conquered. It cannot be destroyed. But the longer we spend time in this world, the more capable we become of carrying it.

We become a refuge for the weary.

Strength for the confused.

A place where someone can stop defending themselves long enough to breathe.

We can become that for one another. We can offer each other safety, presence, compassion, and the simple experience of being allowed to exist without having to prove anything.

But we cannot reliably become a refuge for others until we learn to become one for ourselves.

Until we can sit with our own pain without abandoning ourselves.

Until we can inhabit our own bodies without treating them as enemies.

Until we can meet our own confusion without turning against ourselves.

The refuge we offer the world begins with the refuge we create within.

And once we learn to stay there, we carry it with us.

We become the place where life can rest.