Liminal Space

& people who hold it

Photo by Vladislav Nahorny on Unsplash

One of my favorite things about dancing is the way others hold space for you.

Perhaps not in all kinds of dancing.

But if you’re lucky, you’ll run into someone who sees you dancing and holds back a while, who recognizes the artistic integrity in you, the potential for more, and has the patience to wait for it to manifest itself.

This isn’t about dancing. But I was trying to pinpoint why I enjoyed a recent literary artistic encounter, and ultimately, it’s this. I won’t lie. It flattered me, knowing I was someone worth holding space for, particularly as a writer. Perhaps more so, even, than on a purely personal plane.

But beyond that, I enjoyed the trust, the patience knowing that if you planted a seed, this in me is fertile soil. That sooner or later, something would spring.

I worried for a long while nothing would. Worried I would disappoint that trust. I keep thinking someday, I will. I thought what’s there to say in such a way that hasn’t been approached before? It came, as most good things, quite unbidden, and on the heels of another writing project. Dealing in similar topics, but exploring other avenues.

It made itself felt.

The liminal space refers to periods of transformation, the place in which…