Your Growing Edges and Your Wild, Beautiful Freedom

3/15/22

Dear friend,

In last week's letter, I shared that every Tuesday in the Light House community, we have a chance to name one of our spiritual practices from the past week and to see how vast and wide the designation of "spiritual practice" can actually be.

I love the way this weekly thread so frequently reflects all of life. I also love the way it creatively inspires us to notice new spiritual practices we might try going forward for ourselves.

(If you missed last week's letter and would like to read it, you can find it archived here.)

So, that's our Tuesday thread.

But on Mondays, we do something different.

On Mondays, we sit with a prompt—a unique one every week—that invites us to notice some aspect of who we are.

Last week, the prompt invited us to notice and name one of our "growing edges." This is the language I use in my own life to describe an area I'm being invited to grow at the moment. I think of it like an invitation that's meeting me at the edge of where I am and inviting me to grow beyond that place.

For example, I shared in the thread that one of my growing edges is being willing to share the Light House in some new ways and new places. I have places I'm used to talking about it—here, and on Instagram—but a nudge has been emerging to get comfortable with the idea of doing some new things.

This has felt intimidating, for sure—that's why I name it a growing edge!—but it's also somewhat alluring and gentle. Like a quiet nudge, asking me to notice it is there, to spend time with it and to sit with the possibilities before moving further in.

So, that's me.

I was appreciative, though, of what two of our members shared in response to the prompt. For both of them, they shared some version of, "I'm not sure this is the most helpful prompt for me."

Both of them are used to noticing growing edges in their lives, almost to the extent of knowing alllll the things that could be better all the time.

What they need right now, instead, is a period of rest and wildness. Space to let the blooms grow free and wild for now, unencumbered by a gardener's thumb.

This was such a helpful thing to notice: Are we in a place of attending to a growing edge, or are we in a place of invitation to wild, abundant freedom?

Which invitation is more true for us right now?

Which invitation is more true for you right now?

I'm grateful to be in a community of people who not only value asking questions like this about their lives but are also able to say, in all safety, "This particular question isn't helpful for me. Can I go this way with it instead?"

The answer is always yes. We honor each person's path, free agency, and dignity.

And on this week's Monday thread, I let them serve as the inspiration for this week's prompt, asking the question, "Where is a place of wild abundance for you right now?"

I'd be curious to hear what comes up for you with either of these prompts. Feel free to hit reply and share!

Yours in contemplative light,
Christianne