“ Honour the space between No Longer and Not Yet”
Nancy Levin
A friend of mine told me “2020 is best described as being a rickety bridge between Epochs beginning in one Era, and ending in another. It may not feel particularly safe or inviting, but it’s the only way across. I thought that was a very apt description for what I personally have been experiencing, and in talking with many friends, colleagues, clients I am not alone. These times are certainly asking us to both look outwards and to look within. What is being asked of us personally (individually) as we walk the rickety bridge? It will not be the same for everyone, but it does require a letting go – often of what we might have held dearly.
The courage to move on is the crucial rite of passage.
This is what it feels like, a “rite of passage” to something new. Collectively we are being pushed to the very edges of what we can still bear it seems. And yet it as at the ‘edges’ that we experience that life force needed for something new to be born.
If we are to truly benefit from these shifting energies, (thanks in part to COVID), and if we are to reclaim this – our hard-won authenticity, individuality, inventiveness, uniqueness and meaning to the wider collective as we move towards 2021, it means waking up quickly to the significance of this liminal time.
Some people will hold onto what they believe they are, their own sense of importance – operating from the old 3-D model. Their ego has overtaken their identity. They are operating in the Age of Entitlement.
in last month’s blog I mentioned the distinction between Power as fuel for progress as opposed to Power Over. The latter has been especially evident for us all to see this past month with the US elections. We have a President hanging onto an outdated belief, to a perverted sense of control, of power over. For that is all they know. It can be a mirage when it all comes to an end – and often not of one’s choosing – simply because they are no longer relevant or appropriate to the future context or unknown environment we will be experiencing on the other side of that rickety bridge.
Knowing when to let go and move on is essential.
What might you be hanging onto that may no longer be relevant to who you are to your future context, your newly hard-won authenticity?
This liminality, which in essence is a threshold Zero Point, requires us to let go, and move into a new phase. This is not always easy, if we are not in touch with our ‘inner’.
In our linear digital culture, we have lost many of the old soul supporting psychological and spiritual markers that used to guide our ancestors through periods of transition. The information may seem irrational and hard to decipher, and this is why it can be unsettling. It presents the Truth, and does not smooth things over so we do need to step up and step forward.
Trust that the rickety bridge will support us.
This year has demonstrated the importance of a deep inner world, to navigate and stay grounded within an external world undergoing extensive transformation.
It has been a time to ask: “If you were to face an inner shadow/challenge you’ve been reluctant to explore – what would it be and how might you embrace this aspect of yourself or your journey?”
Taking the time to deeply reflect on what disguised gifts or wisdom might have resurfaced or you have discovered as a result of going through this process . We have all, at times, experienced challenging and difficult times. It is what we learn from these that differentiates those who stand tall in their truth, having acknowledged who they BE, what it is that brings meaning to their life. When we take the time to get off the treadmill and truly reassess why we do what we do, allows a clarity not visible when we are constantly in the doing.
At these times we are reconnected with stories, symbols, music, art or archetypes that have brought us solace and meaning. I have rediscovered the wonderful poet, philosopher and scholar, and Celtic mystic, John O’Donahue. His books are on my shelf, and I am rereading “ Walking in Wonder – Eternal Wisdom for a Modern World” written from his conversations with John Quinn after his untimely death in 2007
Reading this has reassured that life is a journey and how we live it is in our hands. John’s comment on ‘wonder’ is even more profound now in these times of change. He described it in this way: “So many people are frightened by the wonder of their own presence”.
In working with a client this week, there was an “aha” moment when he realised that when he was in the flow with his writing (a self- published author, with a senior corporate role) his ego was nowhere to be seen. – It certainly was not managing his thinking. He said “The ideas were at the tips of his fingertips as I write” which is a beautiful example of valuing the wonder of his presence.
• What is breaking down for you, so that you can break through?
• How are you valuing curiosity over familiarity?
• What are you noticing yourself doing now that you didn’t before?
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what they world needs is people who have come alive.”
Howard Thurman.
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