Hello beautiful human,
Last night I sent an invitation to my paid subscribers to help me begin a new project, a podcast for An Inviting Space. As I wrote in that thread, these small made things are about to grow wings and take to the air. An inner circle of sorts will help me determine, weekly, which posts from the archives to include and week by week we’ll grow a conversation through the summer. I’m not rushing the developmental phase. Wisdom comes through the collective. I’m listening.
More generally, a writer collaborates with her readers—wherever they are and whenever—with every sentence. It’s always been my intention to deepen that over time and grow a collaborative Space here in all the ways that emerge naturally. Living things want to grow and An Inviting Space is very, very alive. And that said, do we ever feel ready for the next new thing? Probably not. The wisest part of me whispers don’t wait to feel ready. Take a step. Dip a toe. Then another. Reach out for help, for a hand to steady you, if you need it.
Time, calendars, what a whirl. All our clock-ish constructs fall far short of lived experience. An hour can drag and a year can fly by. I feel a creative’s natural impatience at times…but pulling forward my early small made things for group review last night—the very first three I wrote! Way back in February!—I realize how much has evolved in just four quick months. Trust, I remind myself. The thing is happening. Pay attention. Listen. Show up.
It’s a deal we make as creators, as Mary Oliver wrote in her Poetry Handbook, and I’m paraphrasing her words here: We show up under the balcony like Romeo and wait for Juliet, that shy, silky, half-wild part of ourselves to appear. Never mind what happens in the play after that…it’s that moment of fascination, devotion, wonder that we want to hold on to. Don’t think this is just for writers. We’re all creators in some direction. We all get to choose how we honor that part of ourselves.
So we enter this Space and tap a pause key that floats up from somewhere. We breathe, feel a brief halt in the grinding of gears, and remember ourselves a little more deeply than before. Whatever emerges next…we’re here at the churning, yearning heart and start of it all. I’m so glad you’re with me, pressed right up against the quick.
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Engagement and conversation are another way to co-create and collaborate with An Inviting Space. I always love to hear from you!
Your time and attention are the true gifts. Thank you. xoS
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