Liminal Space

Liminal Space. Middle ground. The already and the not yet. We’ve all experienced it. It’s the time between ‘what was’ and ‘next.’  We’re driving from one location to another. We’ve been accepted by the college, and now we have a semester until it begins. We’ve finally landed that dream job, but it starts in a month. We made the decision, but now we have to wait. This is the place I’ve been in for the last two months, and this is the place where I’ll be for yet another month.

I made the decision to hike the Te Araroa back in October, but I won’t start until the end of January. Here I am in the middle. The already and the not yet.

It’s a challenging place to be.

It’s an exciting place to be.

It’s a trying place to be.

How do we embrace the ‘wait’?

I can’t say that I’ve nailed it, but what I’ve learned over the last couple of months is that it’s a lot about attitude – and attitude is a choice. I can choose to worry about the unknown. I can choose to numb out the season with Netflix and ice cream. I can choose to withdraw from where I am now. I can choose to be excited about what’s to come. I can choose to be proactive and do research.

I’ve fallen into each of these categories, but what I’ve learned is that this season is important. This time is a gift. When I’ve experienced this liminal space in the past, I’ve been so eager to rush through it and get to the ‘next.’ But, this is time that I won’t get back. And for the next month or so, I choose to lean in.

This current anticipation will soon meet reality.