Liminal Space

Liminal Space…this is my new phrase. It is liberating, it is deep, and it’s a real ‘thing!’

Liminal Space defines the space between ‘what was’ and ‘what’s next.’ The place where transition and transformation take place. The place where we grow even when it’s painful. The place many people seek to quickly leave, but should be a place we desire to linger.

This link says it best. (Make sure you click the link after reading it’s rich.)

I often find myself in this space (in the squiggly lines in the picture below). It describes how I inwardly feel while there.

This picture also captures the tension while in liminal space.

Often we aren’t brave enough to let go of ‘what was’ before we touch the ‘what’s next.’ But when you finally do it’s worth it and can be liberating. It’s good to have a plan but it’s even better when you aren’t tied to that plan. Especially if you are the type of person who gets out of sorts when ‘your’ plan fails.

Very few times we purposely enter liminal space. Perhaps it’s because we are too bent on being in control and have rigid expectations. The image below also speaks loudly to me.

At times it’s easy to walk through an open door but we aren’t always certain where we will end up, or how long it will take us to get to where we “think” we are going? My greatest challenge is to intentionally walk through the threshold called ‘liminal space,’ and fully expect no one else but me to be changed from the inside out. In this place, or this space, is where I wait to be re-formed again and again. It is… and can be… a beautiful place.