I am in a liminal space. I moved out of my home in New England where I’ve lived for fifty years last week and will not be in my new place in Minnesota for another few days. How do you manage the in-betweens?
Copies of my 2019 essay collection, Twilight Time: Aging in Amazement, are available directly from me (signed) or from Amazon or your local bookseller.
Hello out there Susie! It’s very rainy here inLenox this morning! However, just heard Joy Oladakum. Beautiful song writer. Beautiful voice! ❤️ KEEP HOPE ALIVE! She has this written on her guitar. She grew up, knowing she was gay in a community where that was not an option. Forbidden. Years later when she came out to her parents, there accepting reaction stunned her. I am getting ready to go to library in Sheffield. Mark Scarborough’s class on the work of Kazuo Ishiguro. His writing and Mark’s discussions bring me to life. Sending you love as you travel and discover your new surroundings! ❤️😎🦋🌻
I love hearing about what you're doing, Tara. The Ishiguro class sounds like something up my alley. Carrying my friends and their energy with me helps a lot with this feeling of in-betweenness.
Float. I remind myself to stop flailing and just float. I lean into the liminal like an infant to her mother’s breast, like my own pup in my arms. Float, rest, Breathe. 🔆 holding you in my thoughts, Susie. This is sacred time indeed.
I do wish I had something to say about your current liminal space. All I remember from our staying in a hotel for two weeks here in Rochester, because we hadn't yet closed on our home, is trying to be very careful to stay away from others. It was July, 2020, so no vaccines yet and lots of people wearing their masks (the hotel required them) in very casual ways. But the hotel was clean and the bed was good. I hope you're having a better time than that.
What a trial you went through! I didn't mean to suggest that our situation was terrible. Only that we are betwixt and between and I'm impatient to be settled. Impatience has never gotten anyone anywhere.
It must feel unsettling. I hope you are physically somewhere that is relaxing and interesting. And thanks for the addition of liminal to my vocabulary.
Susie, I hope your change of home base has gone as smoothly as possible. If you ever find yourself in Milwaukee, do let me know. A conversation over a glass of wine would be a delight!❤️
See the “in-betweens” as a type of chrysalis…….the place to “prepare for” - or to become…….what’s next……I think we are always “in-between” something or other. The past, the future, breakfast and supper…….Sunday and Monday…..we are always walking the “in-betweens” of our life until we realize we are always there and always on the way………now that’s a lot of mumbo jumbo……..lol…..take what you like and leave the rest. Good luck, Susie. You got this.
Excellent advice, but sometimes easier said than done. For me, it's not so much doing vs being. It's more about learning to swim in the profound unfamiliarity.
With great grumpiness, it must be said.
Hard to believe!
Nope, true! I am awful in airports.
👍
Maybe visit some places in your new city?
Louise Erdrich owns a bookstore in Minneapolis. I would go there. 💚
Have to settle in first. Louise Erdrich is on my list once I have a handle on it.
Hello out there Susie! It’s very rainy here inLenox this morning! However, just heard Joy Oladakum. Beautiful song writer. Beautiful voice! ❤️ KEEP HOPE ALIVE! She has this written on her guitar. She grew up, knowing she was gay in a community where that was not an option. Forbidden. Years later when she came out to her parents, there accepting reaction stunned her. I am getting ready to go to library in Sheffield. Mark Scarborough’s class on the work of Kazuo Ishiguro. His writing and Mark’s discussions bring me to life. Sending you love as you travel and discover your new surroundings! ❤️😎🦋🌻
I love hearing about what you're doing, Tara. The Ishiguro class sounds like something up my alley. Carrying my friends and their energy with me helps a lot with this feeling of in-betweenness.
Float. I remind myself to stop flailing and just float. I lean into the liminal like an infant to her mother’s breast, like my own pup in my arms. Float, rest, Breathe. 🔆 holding you in my thoughts, Susie. This is sacred time indeed.
This time certainly calls for a lot of rest and a lowering of demands. It seems to be a time of witness.
Hi, Susie. I have no words of wisdom. But know that you are often in my thoughts these days.
That's the deepest wisdom there is.
I do wish I had something to say about your current liminal space. All I remember from our staying in a hotel for two weeks here in Rochester, because we hadn't yet closed on our home, is trying to be very careful to stay away from others. It was July, 2020, so no vaccines yet and lots of people wearing their masks (the hotel required them) in very casual ways. But the hotel was clean and the bed was good. I hope you're having a better time than that.
What a trial you went through! I didn't mean to suggest that our situation was terrible. Only that we are betwixt and between and I'm impatient to be settled. Impatience has never gotten anyone anywhere.
Write!
Almost never fails. There's something in the physical act of hitting the keys that has such a comforting effect.
Keep reminding yourself 1)How lucky you are, and 2)Absolutely everything is temporary.
True on both counts.
It must feel unsettling. I hope you are physically somewhere that is relaxing and interesting. And thanks for the addition of liminal to my vocabulary.
Liminal is a word that serves itself up to be used frequently once you've added it.
Susie, I hope your change of home base has gone as smoothly as possible. If you ever find yourself in Milwaukee, do let me know. A conversation over a glass of wine would be a delight!❤️
I've been thinking of you a car ride away in the next state. How are you, dear friend?
See the “in-betweens” as a type of chrysalis…….the place to “prepare for” - or to become…….what’s next……I think we are always “in-between” something or other. The past, the future, breakfast and supper…….Sunday and Monday…..we are always walking the “in-betweens” of our life until we realize we are always there and always on the way………now that’s a lot of mumbo jumbo……..lol…..take what you like and leave the rest. Good luck, Susie. You got this.
I like your style of mumbo jumbo very much. Keep it coming.
Excellent advice, but sometimes easier said than done. For me, it's not so much doing vs being. It's more about learning to swim in the profound unfamiliarity.