Being in liminal space is like being in a void of sorts; a place of neither here nor there; a psychic ocean without a compass to offer guidance.
Kristi Amdahl
If you’d rather consume this post in video format, click here. Thanks!
I used to jokingly ask (with zero sincerity) which cosmic event was behind whatever was going on in my life – particularly when I was in a liminal space – but lately I’ve developed a genuine intrigue in such things.
Now, I believe fully in personal agency – I’d make a crappy coach if I didn’t – but it’s also naïve to think that whatever’s happening around us is irrelevant. And the more awareness I gain about the workings of the Universe, the more I find myself wondering why cosmic events wouldn’t have an impact.
I don’t believe in magic in the sense that events defy science; I just think there’s a lot science hasn’t figured out yet.”
Martha Beck, The Way of Integrity
I’m already digressing, so let me circle back to today’s topic: liminal space.
Being in liminal space is uncomfortable.
I think of it as a void of sorts; a place of neither here nor there; a psychic ocean without a compass or even stars to offer guidance. Do you follow?
If I reflect back on my own life, I notice clusters of periods of liminal space…and I’m currently experiencing such a cluster. And when I can’t find anything else around me to explain my liminal space, I find myself turning to cosmic events.
I am a Reflector in Human Design, which – according to its founder Ra Uru Hu – means I’m part of the 1% of the global population that’s incredibly susceptible to cosmic events, particularly planetary transits. You know, that stuff you read about in horoscopes…the kind of stuff I’ve never paid much attention to until now.
I don’t know definitively if Human Design is an area that – to borrow from my mentor Martha Beck – “science hasn’t yet figured out” – or if it’s just New Age snake oil. But what I do know is that my Design (⅓ Reflector) describes me far better than any other personality or strengths assessment I’ve ever taken. And I’ve taken them all…Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, Conative Styles, Strengths Finder, DiSC, Jungian archetypes, etc.
So with that in mind, I’m paying attention to how Human Design – and specifically planetary transits and other cosmic events – might help me make sense of and move through my current liminal space.
So what is my current liminal space even about?
Well, it partly centers around what I’m here to offer the world. You know, the big existential question: “What is my purpose?”
I’ve answered this question before and so the fact that it came up again recently was a bit jarring. But the void is beckoning me to just ‘be’. BE.
This doesn’t feel very helpful, especially as the other element of my liminal space centers around the very familiar, very distressing itch I’m feeling to leave my 9-5 nonprofit gig. I’ve felt this way with every job I’ve ever had but one (which was at an organic grocery store!) and once the feeling creeps on, I know my days are numbered…
The liminal space is especially uncomfortable because I haven’t yet built a sustainable Wayfinding coaching practice. I’m not in a place to quit without a contingency plan. I mean I could (I’ve done it before!), but how would I pay my bills?!
Mind you that nothing’s wrong with my job – it’s actually a great job with a fantastic organization and coworkers I adore. The thing that’s “wrong” is that I’m in work that’s not aligned with what I’m here to offer the world. And as a Reflector, I’m highly – and I mean highly! – sensitive to this shit.
Liminal space is unfinished.
Anyway, I’m going to end the liminal space thing here. Unfinished. Because that’s what liminal space is – it’s unfinished.
But as for you, dear sister…I want to encourage you to allow yourself to just sit with – “be” with – liminal space when it knocks on your door. It’s hard. It’s uncomfortable. And we’ve been conditioned to always react to it, to take some sort of action, to push it aside and trudge forward.
Pause.
There is wisdom in the void. That is all.
Wayfinding through liminal space
If you’re navigating liminal space – of the blatant existential variety or not – and would like to explore it with me in a Wayfinding capacity, I invite you to take a peek here and if what you read speaks to you, apply for Wayfinding coaching. Peace, sister.
