Liminal spaces

I was introduced to the concept of liminal spaces when I attended a workshop in 2012 by Innovative Resources, entitled "The Literary Therapist: Creative writing for personal growth, healing and social change." Karen Masman explained that liminal spaces are transition times when people are betwixt and between.

Liminal 

Latin: limin -- threshold: of, relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase or condition: in-between, transitional (Webster Dictionary)

Karen further described this as being a stage where the old has gone, but the new has not yet arrived, and as an "I don't know" phase. It relates to many of the changes related to life stages (e.g. leaving school or university, becoming a parent, retirement, moving into a nursing home) and to life events (e.g.moving house, the death of a loved one, becoming chronically ill). Many of our clients present to us when going through liminal spaces.

The things that can help us in transitioning through liminal spaces

It was suggested that two of the things that can help us are rituals and ceremonies, and having our own wise guide.

Since the workshop I have come across a number of concepts of wise guides and these include:

1. An exercise entitled "A message from a guardian angel" in Yvonne Dolan's book Beyond Survival:Living well is the best revenge (BT Press, London 2000) where she asks us to imagine that a wise and compassionate guardian angel has been sitting on our shoulders since we were born and has been observing all our positive personality strengths and virtuous beliefs about the world (and not feeding us any self-criticism or blame). The angel then dictates these to us as we write them down, and then we are asked to reflect on which we value most and want to continue to influence our approach to life.
2. "Meeting your Wise Being" in Stephanie Dowrick's book Intimacy and Solitude Self-Therapy Book (Random House Australia, 1993) where she uses guided imagery to take us on a journey through relaxation, and then along a path through a forest and up to a plateau on a mountain and to a Temple of Silence where, waiting inside for us, is our Wise Being who emanates a feeling of loving acceptance. We then need to create a mental picture of our Wise Being to bring to mind when needed.
3. The concept of using an inner nurturing voice rather than an inner critic.

An exercise in reflecting on these spaces

During the workshop we were asked to find a symbolic liminal space (a pathway, stairs etc.) in which to sit and write a list of things we don't know. Then later in the workshop, after tapping into some of our strengths, we were asked to write a list of the things we did know. Both lists were then used as a basis for producing a small book.

This is mine:

Longing in liminal spaces

I don't know if I like being in liminal spaces.







Uncertainty about what I want for the future, and the journey towards regaining confidence after facing challenges, puts me in a liminal space.








I don't know if my liminal spaces are too long ... 

Being engulfed in my feelings and struggling to regain peace in my life makes my liminal spaces too long.

I don't know who my wise guides should be in these places ...

I do know ... I need to refind belief in myself.

I do know ... I can survive challenges to find a way through, and I can  rebuild a shattered assumptive world.

I do know ... I like finding micro details in macro things, but I am moving towards creating a simpler life.

I do know ... there is always more than one perspective and I like expanding my mind to new ideas and perspectives.

I do know ... I love interacting with nature and I like travelling and exploring.

However I also know ... that my home is a safe haven where I can put my own spin on creating things.

I do know ... that I like to give and that giving will assist me in passing through my liminal spaces.

As I yearn to recreate myself, my God reminds me that He is in control and will give me the wisdom to be my own wise guide.






A final thought:
What happens if we notice when we, or our clients, are actually travelling through liminal spaces and name and accept them as such?