What if it gets to be simple?
A reflection on doing less and being more
There is a draft of this post that has been sitting for a month, half-written, and excessively complicated given the title. It made me laugh today seeing it there waiting for me to finish and noticing my resistance to this paradoxical entity I carved out of imagination and curiosity. I’m starting fresh with a blank page and a clear mind. Thanks for being here.
This month I let go of one of my offices at Light Space - a flexible office collective for creative changemakers in Portland, Oregon. When I opened the doors in 2020, I rented out one office, which quickly grew to four. For a while, it was exhilarating and fun to manage four offices. Until it wasn’t. The truth is I took on more than I had the capacity for hoping I could expand to meet the challenge and it didn’t happen as quickly as I expected. After battling with the reality of my situation for several months, I heard a faint whisper filled with wonder, “What if it gets to be simple?”
With patience and compassion, I remembered that this project I call Light Space was intended to support my coaching practice by giving me a physical space to show up (outside of my laundry room). I remembered that I did not dream of coordinating schedules with dozens of members and event planners. I remembered how much I missed the simplicity of what I had imagined from the start. So I practiced letting go.
Letting go is good friends with grief and relief in my world. I like to think of these themes as beings, conversing and interacting just like people. When I let go I made space for simplicity and with it came waves of sadness sprinkled with bursts of joy and affirmation. I finished moving out of the fourth office today and I was met with a reassuring experience of completion, satisfaction, and enoughness I wasn’t anticipating. Sometimes less is more…
As I write this, I feel myself filtering through all my stories of what was, what could be, and what I will never know. Simplicity says gently, “It’s okay to witness the complexity of the situation. It’s all welcome here.” I breathe deeply and let go again leaning into the process of unknowing. Simplicity replies, “Thank you for trusting me. What would you like to create now my darling? What if it gets to be simple?” Within an hour I have completed and released a coaching project that has been churning in me for 6 months, waiting for space to emerge. Waiting for me to let go of what I was no longer meant to be carrying.
All this is to say, sometimes our expectations don’t align with reality and sometimes it’s not the end of the world. Sometimes there’s magic waiting on the other side of the unknown and sometimes everything works out better than you could have hoped.
If you’d like to learn more about my coaching project: Navigating Liminal Space, I’d love to tell you all about it. Every so often I will develop a project like this to share my coaching with the community and practice my skills with the kindred spirits who show up.
Who: Multifaceted creatives who are ready to dive in and explore the unknown
What: 20 gifted coaching sessions, 1 hour long session per person
Where: I’ll meet you on zoom and email the recording afterward
When: Now until the end of 2022
Why: I delight in the messy middle of life — especially other people’s
An Ode to Liminal Space
I want to sit with you in your liminal spaces.
I want to hold tender space for your messy in-between.
I want to mirror your words and observations back to you as you find your way through the unknown.
I want to walk alongside you as you get lost on purpose.
What will we discover when we get curious and listen?
Who will you become as you transition into being more fully yourself?
What awaits you when you embrace the great unknown within?
Want to sign up?
Click here to book your session: Navigating Liminal Space | A Coaching Project