Betwixt and Between
Where life is lived
This liminal space
where things are no more
and yet to be
How might my moments
of in-betweenness
yield the gifts
of a life well lived?
Capturing precious realities
residing in this place and this time
I walk out the door to a new day...
Where life is lived
This liminal space
where things are no more
and yet to be
How might my moments
of in-betweenness
yield the gifts
of a life well lived?
Capturing precious realities
residing in this place and this time
I walk out the door to a new day...
For several weeks, I have been drawn again and again to the idea of liminal space, liminal time, in-betweenness… It seems much of life is lived unaware of the limens or thresholds contained in every moment. Most of life we gradually, slowly move from one time or place to the next. Granted there are life events that are immediate, acute, horrific or wonderful. Yet most often, where we have been and where we are going evolve over hours, days, weeks, months, years. We tend to focus on the future or dwell in the past, much to the detriment of where we are, blatantly unaware of the "in-between" time, the liminal space in which we reside between two moments, between two places in life. We see ourselves either "here" or "there"...
What if we lived our years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes with a deep awareness of the this liminal state of in-betweenness? What if we accepted the fleeting nature of this life, the reality that our birth is our first step toward our death, that all of life is, in some sense, liminal?
Each breath is one breath closer to our last breath: each day brings us closer to our last day... This need not be a depressing or morbid thought, for contained in that reality is the gift of being alive. If we might engage more with living "in-between", we might find a greater depth and meaning in our days.
In a world that focuses on the future and dwells on the past, how might we value the thresholds of our lives where, for a fleeting moment, we are neither here nor there?
Recently I had the enriching opportunity to dialogue about liminal space and the image of thresholds with some twenty-something year olds in the midst of a major transition. One of them reflected that thresholds seem more like either/or space than both/and space. We explored how our thresholds gradually widen over time merging what was, what is, and what will be. Contained in that space is a potential sense of unity. Often we are focused on "I am here and next week I will (or want to be) there," and we miss the slowly merging interconnection, the gradual change from one identity, one reality to another-- the moment of ultimate unity where past, present, and future are one.
Pregnancy and birth provide a powerful point of reflection. For an initial time, a woman has no indication of new life forming within her. Then signs emerge and may or may not be noted. Nine months after conception, a woman becomes a mother, yet for nine months she has, in fact, been a mother in ever-changing form. Through much of life, one does not become something overnight. Life evolves and, at a mystical magical moment, we are both what we were as well as what we will be. In a blink of an eye, the shift happens, yet the change has been occurring all along...
What if we lived our years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes with a deep awareness of the this liminal state of in-betweenness? What if we accepted the fleeting nature of this life, the reality that our birth is our first step toward our death, that all of life is, in some sense, liminal?
Each breath is one breath closer to our last breath: each day brings us closer to our last day... This need not be a depressing or morbid thought, for contained in that reality is the gift of being alive. If we might engage more with living "in-between", we might find a greater depth and meaning in our days.
In a world that focuses on the future and dwells on the past, how might we value the thresholds of our lives where, for a fleeting moment, we are neither here nor there?
Recently I had the enriching opportunity to dialogue about liminal space and the image of thresholds with some twenty-something year olds in the midst of a major transition. One of them reflected that thresholds seem more like either/or space than both/and space. We explored how our thresholds gradually widen over time merging what was, what is, and what will be. Contained in that space is a potential sense of unity. Often we are focused on "I am here and next week I will (or want to be) there," and we miss the slowly merging interconnection, the gradual change from one identity, one reality to another-- the moment of ultimate unity where past, present, and future are one.
Pregnancy and birth provide a powerful point of reflection. For an initial time, a woman has no indication of new life forming within her. Then signs emerge and may or may not be noted. Nine months after conception, a woman becomes a mother, yet for nine months she has, in fact, been a mother in ever-changing form. Through much of life, one does not become something overnight. Life evolves and, at a mystical magical moment, we are both what we were as well as what we will be. In a blink of an eye, the shift happens, yet the change has been occurring all along...
What if we lived each moment
with an awareness
of the liminal space
in which we reside?
Our birth leads us each day
closer to the last day
in which we die
Every breath is one breath
closer to our last
This need not cast
a dark veil over our souls
For the gift of this awareness
is an acute sense of the
gift contained in each breath
We live in a liminal space and time
Soul embodied
Both divine and earthly
Both eternal and temporal
Both limitless and limited
Both living and dying
Both here and there
with an awareness
of the liminal space
in which we reside?
Our birth leads us each day
closer to the last day
in which we die
Every breath is one breath
closer to our last
This need not cast
a dark veil over our souls
For the gift of this awareness
is an acute sense of the
gift contained in each breath
We live in a liminal space and time
Soul embodied
Both divine and earthly
Both eternal and temporal
Both limitless and limited
Both living and dying
Both here and there
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