Liminal Space: Breath, Bridges & Becoming
Take a deep breath in and let it out.
Now, do it again, but this time notice the stillness at the top of the inhale, right before you exhale, and the pause at the bottom of the exhale right before you take your next breath. Try not to hold your breath in these moments, just notice that natural pause.
That pause is the liminal space.
There is a poem by Della Hicks-Wilson that says: There are endings and there are beginnings, and the two always meet.
But if you look closely, the shift from the end of one thing to the beginning of another does not complete the solid circle in the way you might expect. The circle is not made complete by the end standing side by side with the beginning, arms draped over one another’s shoulders. If you zoom in on the circle, all the way in, you’ll see that, instead of a meet-cute between the end and the beginning, the two are actually joined by (or, depending on your perspective, separated by) a bridge.
That bridge is the liminal space.
Photo by Megan Hartford
There are endless moments throughout your life within which you are in this liminal space; endless experiences of crossing that bridge. They are remarkable in their variety, with some lasting only minutes or hours and others stretching into multiple decades, reminding you of either the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it rural creek crossing or the 23 mile Lake Pontchartrain Causeway…on foot.
In addition to the variation in time spent in this space, there is also an array of reactions to said space. It is a place that is welcomed by some and avoided at all costs by others. At times you find yourself jumping in head first, while at other times you cling to anything that will keep you from sliding into its unpredictability.
About five months ago, all of the nearly 8 billion of us crowded onto that bridge together. We all saw the end of life as we know it, and have yet to meet our new beginning. We’ve taken a collective sigh and are all just waiting to inhale again.
And while we are waiting, hanging out in the liminal space, there are some extraordinary things happening.
Illumination.
A light is being cast into our dark corners, exposing fear, distrust, division, oppression and inequalities. Aspects of our world that have always been present, but that we are now being forced to fully see and reckon with. The beast must be lured out before it can finally be slayed.
(Com)Passion.
Those who carry the weight of oppression and inequality, are on the receiving end of the fear and distrust, and are therefore forcibly divided, are finally having their voices heard, while positioning their spotlights on the rest of us, highlighting our liability and demanding we take responsibility and actively advocate for change. It is imperative for those of us in the spotlight to practice deep compassion and transform it into awareness, action, activism and anti-racism.
Creativity.
We’ve begun to reimagine how we work, how we create, how we communicate and how we live. Many of us have had to be innovative and intuitive; figuring out on the fly how to adapt our work, our businesses, our children’s education; discovering new ways to create, when the old ways would no longer work; and how to fill our time when so many reliable experiences are no longer available.
Growth.
In the words of poet Danielle Doby, “growth lives in the uneasiness. the in-between. the unfinished sentence.” We’re almost always focused on getting to the end, on the results, and on moving on to the next big thing. We rarely stop long enough to recognize, let alone, embrace, the in-between, the liminal space. But this is where “growth lives.” It is where change happens. It is often where we can feel most alive.
And being alive means embodying the qualities of illumination, (com)passion, creativity and growth. These qualities will manifest in each of us differently, but if we are open to them, they will manifest. They will guide us in our becoming. What we are to become is up to us. We’ve been given this space, this complicated, crazy, scary, sacred, lonely, lovely liminal space.
So, take a deep breath noticing the stillness at the top of the inhale, right before you exhale, and the pause at the bottom of the exhale right before you take your next breath.
That pause is the liminal space.
This is where we live now. Let’s embrace it.
Awareness, Action, Activism, & Anti-Racism
A starting point…become knowledgeable, donate time and money, speak up, listen, act
In MHK
Black Lives Movement
Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice (MAPJ)
Coalition for Equal Justice
Mutual Aid MHK
Renters Together MHK
The Crisis Center, Inc.
Manhattan Emergency Shelter
In KC
KC Community Bail Fund
Reale Justice Network
One Struggle KC
Race Project KC
Generating Income for Tomorrow
Stand Up KC
Hope House
Shirley’s Kitchen Cabinet
Transformations KC
Kansas City Center for Inclusion
KC Tenants
Look for organizations to support in your area.