The BOLD (Liminal Space)
One of my teachers, John Phillip Newell, has been speaking for a while now about the liminal space between seeking ancient wisdom and using our imagination to reach into what has never been before.
First, I love the idea of liminal space. It is the moment when an era, moment, season or day is neither one thing nor the other.
My favorite daily example is the moment in the morning when one groggy bird wakes up all the other birds and the deep stillness of night tips into the brightness of day. That is the gloaming—a word with Old English roots.
We are in a gloaming, a liminal space between what we knew and what will be. Navigating this space takes agility. Leading in this space takes courage. Courage requires emotional health, vitality and action.
In order to find the opportunities hidden in plain sight, we must apply courage to the hunt.
P.S. We are always in liminal space, poised between what was and what can be—it’s just easier to see that sometimes.
The Whisper (Tend to Courage)
The world feels like one big question mark right now. In this moment, as always, opportunities are hidden, obscured by uncertainty, shifting situations, new experiences and disruption. In order to find them, we must have the courage to engage in the Opportunity Hunt. We need courage to stay open to possibilities when the news, our contacts, and our circumstances seem to be telegraphing only obstacles, dire predictions, and shut-down. The threat may be real but courage is bigger.
Courage needs nourishment and it can be fed. Courage can be refined, and it can be honed. Courage needs strength and it can be exercised.
Exercises to Tend To Courage
Nourish your courage by nourishing yourself. Taking care of your body—exercise, sleep, and good food—ensures that you have the reserves to apply to courage. Taking care of your mind—enlightening reading, vigorous healthy conversation, study—ensures that your courage can be applied strategically. Taking care of your heart—prayer, meditation, social interaction, gratitude—ensures that your courage will be grounded in your strength.
Hone your courage by applying it. Do something that you are afraid to do. Preferably, select something that is a wise, forward-focused, and healthy risk. Reach out to have a conversation. Try a difficult task. Make an offer.
Bolster your Courage. Focus on your assets. Make a list of everything you have in your arsenal for the Opportunity Hunt. What skills and abilities do you have? What connections do you enjoy? List your successes, your joys, and your triumphs. Keep the list open and add to it over the next few days. Share it with people you love and let them add to the list (and add to theirs as well).
Connect your courage to bigger things. Find the things that are bigger than you and attach to those things. For some, that is faith in a source of supreme guidance and strength. Lean into your practices. Community is bigger. Reach out and be sure to connect with your community of family, friends, colleagues, mentors. Find the network that lends you strength and plug in. What has your back?
Let Courage Rest. Find places, times and circumstances that allow you to rest. Escape into a book. Take time to stand in a patch of grass in your bare feet. Close your eyes and let your mind find a peaceful place. You can’t be courageous all the time. Strength requires replenishment.
Join Together
I choose courage and optimism, even though the opposite is making a compelling case. I choose to be open and to assume that it will probably work out for my benefit—and for yours as well. Let’s apply our courage and our faith to believing that together.
Leave a Reply