liminal spaces
“Being in a state of unknowing is not the same as losing our way… A place of unknowing can include waiting for clarity or the next thing to be revealed. We may or may not already have a sense of direction of where we’re heading, but we can still have a sense of trust and peace.”
- Journaling as a Spiritual Path
For me these final weeks of summer create a liminal space. The space of the in between. The space of knowing what is coming and where we have been. The space of contentment with the slow days of summer, with the transition on the horizon.
The space where you wake up and it feels like fall, but by noon the chill has burned off as we are basking in the beauty of another summer day. We are in that space where none of the pants fit from last school year, and the need to hold on to every last slow morning.
I caught myself telling my youngest, “Go out to play! You’re going to spend the next nine months inside.” While in the garden this morning we watched monarchs and bumblebees flutter on our sunflowers. My thoughts were about the long journey that also awaits these flying friends. The “super generation” will be leaving in the next few days. Their spring counterparts migrate in multiple generations each living only a few weeks, yet in fall this one “super generation” will have a nine month lifespan flying over 3,000 miles from Wisconsin to Mexico. They enter a state of reproductive diapause, an ever living teenager, wintering in a liminal space. Come spring, they will reproduce and their young will move north.
This could be… the super generation about to emerge.
This is my reminder, the next is about to be revealed. I am anticipating what I think may be coming. But I want to trust in the peace of what is today. I want to honor the repetitive cycles of nature and our cultural connections. These monarchs will arrive at their final destination around the Day of the Dead. Some cultures believe it is the spirits of their ancestors returning home. The Day of the Dead is a day of liminal energy. It is almost like the monarchs transfer clarity, direction and acceptance of what is to come.
In these final days of August, may your days be slow, peaceful and trusting. Change is coming, but not here just yet. May you see a monarch in the coming days and wish it good luck for their journey is yet to begin!
This Week’s A Door Within:
How can I be present in the liminal space?
What transitions are ahead that will manifest, but I am in a state of acceptance of what will be?
♥ Ashley
