Courtney Pauls- Practice Room as Sacred Place

A place that I consider sacred is the practice room. The practice rooms here at CNU consist of tiny little rooms that contain a chair, music, stand, piano, and a trash can. The walls are a light grey, the floor is what used to be white but is now a light yellow, and the temperature varies from hour to hour. To most people, this probably does not sound like a place to consider sacred. I feel like calling a practice room a sacred place definitely can relate to Lane’s third axiom, sacred place can be tred upon without being entered. I bet that most of my music major friends do not consider the practice room as a sacred place, yet they all use them. When I go into a practice room, I feel like I am in my own little world. This year I started practicing mindfulness. In short, mindfulness is total concentration and going with the flow. When I am about to practice for 3 or 4 hours, I first sit down and clear my mind of everything but what I am about to practice. This technique is so relaxing and it prepares me for the work ahead. Also, I enjoy being alone and the practice room is a perfect place for that. I have made some of my biggest life decisions, this far, in a practice room where I can think alone.