Liminal Space

One of my favorite things to do in the liminal space between winter solstice and the first few weeks of a brand new year is reflecting on the year that has passed and visioning the year that is to come.

Liminal refers to that transition place between the past (what was) and entering a new space (what’s next) – a time of waiting, and not yet knowing.

This liminal space holds the promise of transformation, if we allow it to do its magic.

One of the ways of entering this mystery is through creating a collage of images. I save images from junk mail, catalogs, or brochures throughout the year.

collection of images

Our unconscious already knows what’s waiting in the wings…

As I create my collage trusting that I will find the right images and that they will arrange themselves in just the right way into a synergistic whole, something exciting and mysterious emerges. I always know when it is complete. I may not always know the deeper meaning of everything in the collage, but it usually reveals itself as the year progresses.

This is the collage I created at the beginning of 2017:

2017 collage

I can see my anxiety reflected over political issues introducing a year of more political engagement than I have probably had through my entire life. There are images that remind me of my spiritual practices that help keep everything in perspective and balance; a tenderness for youth and innocence – yes, we are accountable and responsible for the condition of the planet we are leaving behind for our descendants; the need for nourishment, health, and self-nurture to balance out the starkness of the struggle for good; the need for both connection and solitude.

And it was an intense year, with lots of opposing forces, both on the inside and the outside, both within relationships and on a national and worldwide scale.

I will create another collage for 2018, again honoring and invoking that liminal space described so well by R. Rohr:

“…where we are betwixt and between the familiar and the completely unknown. There alone is our old world left behind, while we are not yet sure of the new existence. That’s a good space where genuine newness can begin. Get there often and stay as long as you can by whatever means possible… This is the sacred space where the old world is able to fall apart, and a bigger world is revealed. If we don’t encounter liminal space in our lives, we start idealizing normalcy. The threshold is God’s waiting room. Here we are taught openness and patience as we come to expect an appointment with the divine Doctor.” (Richard Rohr, Author and Theologian).

Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: 2017 Favorites