Cabin Dreams: An Imaginary Escape

Sometimes when you are coping with illness it is nice to have somewhere to escape to. Maybe you can’t always physically go to someplace you love, but you can certainly take a mini-vacation just by closing your eyes.

I have a cherished spot in my imagination that I have crafted to be comforting, peaceful and utterly shutoff from everything else around me. As a little girl, my family’s vacations were always in the Eastern High Sierra Mountains: that is my happy place.

With my eyes shut, I am immediately transported to an early morning in the Sierra, sun just beginning to rise with the morning campfire blazing. I have a cozy chair placed at the edge of a river and a cup of hot coco always warms my hands.

Over the years I’ve embellished my retreat by including a cabin with plush furniture, soft lighting and lots of natural wood. I go here to contemplate life’s mysteries, decisions I’m struggling with or just for a moment away from my very own thoughts.

Maybe your escape is during an MRI or other medical test, when you’re coping with considerable physical pain, or when stress has become overwhelming. If you’d like to create a retreat too, think about your favorite spot in the world (real or imagined) and fill it with everything that makes you feel secure, loved and fully relaxed.

I have found it helpful to design my visualized retreat ahead of actually being stressed and wanting to go there. If the details are not already in place, you’ll spend the whole time rearranging your space or traveling from a secluded beach to a mountain top and never stop to enjoy it.

I recently decided to do some renovation and hunted through Pinterest and other sites for some gorgeous cabin inspiration. I’m excited for my next mini visualized retreat!

I call my imaginary style modern cabin: