Our Sanctuary. Our Bed.

Our beds are important.

We don't always see them that way. But we spend an awful lot of time in them.

We love our beds more than we know. How many times have we been on vacation or on a business trip and uttered these words, "I can't wait to sleep in my own bed again".

I see a lot of beds. Most patients in hospice are in one a lot of the time. Often, I try to get them to use a hospital bed. We can have them delivered to the home. They are convenient as you can simply push a button and move your head up to a sitting position. The whole bed rises up so that care is easier to manage and they are easier to get in and out of. Plus, we can then place a bed on the first floor as many patients cannot maneuver up the stairs easily anymore.

But when I mention it, I am often met, not with mild resistance, but a fierce determination to "remain in my own bed".

My own bed. I hear that all of the time.

Some of the beds that I see are not what I would call comfy and inviting. Many have rag tag blankets and are never made, always looking disheveled. But many like it that way. They are comfortable there. That rag tag blanket may have seen a lot of years and have special meaning. We don't judge. We try to keep people in their own beds. We understand the importance.

But most people really don't think about their bed unless they are forced to spend countless hours in them. Many do not make their beds or change their sheets often. Some have stuff piled on them or have pets sleeping on them all day.

Others, make the bed every morning, change their expensive 1000 count sheets every week, have a matching duvet, bed ruffle and coordinating pillows.

But it really doesn't matter what the bed looks like. What matters is what it means to you.

I am always thankful for my bed. Sometimes in a crazy way. I suppose because I am forced to think about beds a lot.

I want mine to be a place where I can really feel comfy. Cozy. I want it to be pretty, but not so nice that it would bother me to have kids and dogs on it all of the time. I want it to have a lot of pillows. Pillows mean comfort to me.

Beds can also hold special memories for us. I remember the bed of my youth quite clearly. I spent a lot of time there dreaming about what my life would become. I had posters surrounding my bed and my favorite stuffed animals sitting there and of course the one pillow that I took with me everywhere I needed to lay down my head; the sofa, a trip in the car, to a friends house for a sleep-over, on vacation. I took a little bit of my bed with me because I knew how much it comforted me.

And still does.

So, take another peek at your bed tonight and look at it not just as a place to plop your head, but as a special part of your life. Your own private sanctuary, even though you may share it with another. See it not just as furniture, but as a place you can recharge, ignite passion, have meaningful quiet talks, make memories. A place where you can express your design talents or a place that you can leave rumpled and messy because life always seems too tidy for you and the bed is just relaxed and you can really let go there.

Anyway, we should embrace our beds. They certainly embrace us. They are a much bigger part of our world than we think.


O bed! O bed! delicious bed!
That heaven upon earth to the weary head.
~Thomas Hood, Miss Kilmansegg - Her Dream

May sleep envelop you as a bed sheet floating gently down, tickling your skin and removing every worry. Reminding you to consider only this moment. ~Jeb Dickerson

Life is too short to sleep on low thread-count sheets. ~Leah Stussy