Thresholding: Being in the In-Between
An Offering for Solstice
This morning, at dawning, as I walked the edge of the North American continent and the Pacific Ocean,while sensing into the first day of the next season (winter here in NA), and the coming of the Gregorian calendar’s New Year, I invited myself to be aware of all the in-betweening that is happening, of which I, along with everything/everybody else, am part.
Here we are … standing, sitting, being in this threshold of already/not yet … what Jude Currivan (in her short video “A Radical Guide to Reality”) describes as “meaningful in-formation” which in-forms the interdependent complexity of Universe (of which we are participating parts).
“We live in a time between worlds; a time of almost unbearable intensity, potential, and change.” – Zak Stein,
Yep. It does feel like that.
And we, who have been raised-in, taught-by, and encoded-with Western culture of Modernity are not used-to, comfortable-with, or trusting-of the weather of this space.
Yet, we find ourselves here – trying to find our way amid the throes of non-linearity, unpredictability, and change that is the process of healing, transformation, and evolution that arises when what seemed to be working before (well … for some, if not for most) is no longer working for anybody. The clue that this is happening is that everyone (human and other-than-human) in some form or another, is suffering, hurting, grieving, and/or confused.
We are all feeling it … AND we do not have to be alone in consciously experiencing the impact and responding to this global changing. In fact, perhaps the most powerful way-of-being as we are thresholding is being-together-in-community. Being together does not mean that we all have the same perspective – after all, because we come from different places, experiences, cultures, and personalities, how could we? … and, if you really think about it, how boring (not-to-mention, uncreative) would that be?! Being together means that we realize and source-our-relationality in that we are more alike than we are different … that we have more shared reality as living beings than difference of form and background.
As you well-know, Monterey Bay Meditation Studio is dedicated to providing a space and cultivating community in service of catalyzing, cultivating, and embodying the skills, perspectives, and ways-of-being that support conscious response and relationship in times of change. To meet the current pacing and circumstances of global change, we are amping-up our ways and means of seeding and meeting what is being called-for and what is emerging.
What is emerging includes: expansion of the MBMS Constellation, along with creation of new avenues of mutual learning, in-person (as well as online) gatherings, opportunities for practicing and creating together, and even a playlist: Liminaling: An MBMS Playing-list … just for fun (and as a practice in humility) try saying liminaling out-loud 3 times. :)
For details, watch for the newsletter that will be arriving in your Inbox very soon.
Meanwhile, here are some …
Practices for Cultivating Ease and Freedom in Thresholding, a.k.a., Ways of Expanding, Deepening, and Liberating through Uncertainty, Not Knowing, and Unfamiliarity.
Between now and the New Year (and, for bonus points, beyond…)
Open doors with your non-dominant hand. …
Walk (slowly) across the room backwards (obvious note: be sure there is a clear path), …
Go a different way to the grocery store, …
Take off your watch (or turn-off your phone) and wander and meander Outdoors … let yourself be called by not-knowing/naming/judging/analyzing, …
Let yourself be changed by … a sound, … a land-, sea-, sky-scape, … a conversation, …
Tell yourself a new story about who you are and what capacities you have, …
Try something different: Follow the advice of George Costanza (from “Seinfield” series episode, “The Opposite”) …
Note: Any/all of these invitations are likely to generate some discomfort. After all, they are different – uncertainty, not knowing, and unfamiliarity are part of the package . Letting yourself breathe-through and be present with these impacts (as much as you can) is the practice. Notice what you discover about yourself, ... the world of which you are part, ... Life, …
In service of cultivating community, I invite you to share what you notice and experience by replying to the Thresholding post in the Homepage Feed of the MBMS community platform. If you’re not already a member of our Mighty Networks community, you can join, for free, HERE).
In her most recent book Combining, Nora Bateson offers this timely blessing …
“Somehow everything necessary to work for now
Seems to float like swirls of sunscreen on the
Surface of the pool.
The depth is elsewhere.
May we swim deeply and off script.”
With you in/on/of/as Thresholding and streaming love, warmth, and good wishes for you, all your beloveds, and all beings …
Marianne
