The edge is my singledom. Experiencing no long term relationships in this life, I feel exposed and isolated in a world that places being in a relationship on a pedal stool. It’s uncomfortable at the best of times. It’s also expansive, freeing, and wildly independent to find myself in these set of circumstances. One of my favourite songs is The Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga. The glory being the point where we tip over!
Right, I do not know this song and am going to go listen now. Thank you. On behalf of all here. Yes singledom is edge-walking because you have to define your life without the standard guidebook. You have to write a new story.
“Come to the edge," he said. "We can't, we're afraid!" they responded. "Come to the edge," he said. "We can't, We will fall!" they responded. "Come to the edge," he said. And so they came. And he pushed them. And they flew.“ — Guillaume Apollinaire
I enjoy reading your post bc it reminds me how small I continue to keep myself. It's usually that culprit called fear that does it to me. When I read it, its alarm bells that sing in my head but what can I do to reach beyond that cliff. Thats where my struggles lay. Keep provoking me with that stick. I do admit I'm lost and not sure where to give, a little overwhelmed with it all which leads to precisely that "stagnation".
Stay safe and keep those thought provoking post coming. 😊❤️
Perhaps a good trigger is discomfort. You feel discomfort...ok, could be a good direction. Brene Brown talks about this a lot. It's antithetical to what our (comfortable) society tells us
Hey Sarah, for me the edge is in my work life. For many years I raised children, grew vegetables and made clothes, gifts etc. then for a decade, as my children grew up and left home, I retrained as an art therapist and now in my late 50's I've stepped back out into public life in practice as an art therapist, which is life on the edge of a powerful emerging process helping people to transform fear and overwhelm into power and expression. I love it!!
The growing and making continue to nourish my centre and enable me to really inhabit this edge fearlessly!
Sarah, I woke up this morning and this was the first thing I saw. It’s brilliant, cuts to the quick and has helped me back myself up and move my arse. Stagnating into comfort and inertia means becoming invisible and irrelevant and choosing not to be part of things. Bollocks to that. Thanks for the kick. I’m going to rabble rouse and get shit done xxxx
I once came across a definition of the word 'deviant' as a Socioculturally Invalidated Innovator. Perhaps a deviant is just someone striving to find their edge X
Hi Sarah, I rarely post comments online (anywhere!) but your latest post reminded me yet again how consistently your insights resonate with me...thank you for your bravery and leadership, speaking uncomfortable truths and inspiring us all to live lives aligned with our values. Just wanted you to know that there are probably loads of people like me who think you rock but don't (often) reach out!
I think I do my best work and experience more personal and spiritual growth when I push myself to the edge. I believe artists need to keep going to their edge to make meaningful work. Meaningful to themselves and others. But sometimes life takes you over the edge when you least expect it. It is at the edge and over where I find I can do things I didn't know I could.
Thanks for your words of wisdom Sarah, a timely reminder of how we can move through these crazy times! For me, working with the edge gets a little easier each time. I've recently found a Maori healing technique that brings my emotional stuff (aka my edges) to the surface to be moved on. It's been one of the ways that's helped me find stable ground on the other side!
So many edges in my life and still here. Ageing as you mentioned. That’s a long journey of discovery. A whole new chapter to my life. Almost 15 years single now and not sure if I will ever repartner. Various illnesses that let you see through
The Veil to the other side and provide the choice to stay or go. Long term staph infection and 2 different cancers are just a few. Am now recovering my health again. My next edge is to get rid of most of what I own (have done so much already), put a few things in storage and then live in my motorhome. Part of me may just be turning into a ‘prepper’ and that is something I never thought I would consider in my lifetime.
Those around us can prefer we stay in a familiar zone rather than ruffling feathers by stretching into new territory. A dear friend who loves platitudes and usually gets all the praise and approval she needs from me without question ended up in tears the other night when I tried a new way of relating… To amuse the dinner table and justify her new car purchase, she dismissed my electric car as not a real car. Instead of smiling sweetly I questioned her viewpoint. She ended up crying that she was under attack. Trying new ways of relating can have disruptive consequences. She had no curiosity about what felt different in our exchange, only hurt. Such a pity.
Your deep longing for understanding of ‘The Something Else’, your willingness to ‘step over the edge’ in order to break through the endless façade of human life, is rare and courageous and beautiful. I truly believe you are someone who hasn’t properly ‘resigned’ to living a numb, comfortable life in denial of the ‘elephant in our living room’, the issue of our psychologically troubled ‘human condition’.
Please, please go to www.humancondition.com and watch Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith explain the underlying issue in all human affairs, our human condition, in an interview at the top of the page.
As Professor Harry Prosen, a former president of the Canadian Psychiatric Assoc., said of Jeremy’s book FREEDOM (which is available free at the above website), “I have no doubt this biological explanation of the human condition is the holy grail of insight we have sought for the psychological rehabilitation of the human race.”
Anyway Sarah, I send you all the love and encouragement in the world for your courageous, truly phenomenal journey and thank you SO much for all your precious contributions to this world, and to me.
A quote I came across many years ago and love, unfortunately I don't know where it is from. Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practise wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.
It's a little terrifying for me to even read this post ... I feel my anxiety rise as I read each quote. But it's a good thing. In many ways that's what faith is ... stepping out over the edge unsure of where one will land. :)
I'm in a season of transition and I sense a call to the edge ...
Thank you again, Sarah, for leading the way. Be safe and love well. xx
Thanks for your words of wisdom Sarah, such a timely reminder of what's needed in these crazy times! For me, working with the edge gets a little easier each time. I've recently discovered a Maori healing technique that brings my emotional stuff (aka my edges) to the surface to be moved on. It's been a comfort to know that I can find stable ground on the other side!
The edge is my singledom. Experiencing no long term relationships in this life, I feel exposed and isolated in a world that places being in a relationship on a pedal stool. It’s uncomfortable at the best of times. It’s also expansive, freeing, and wildly independent to find myself in these set of circumstances. One of my favourite songs is The Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga. The glory being the point where we tip over!
Right, I do not know this song and am going to go listen now. Thank you. On behalf of all here. Yes singledom is edge-walking because you have to define your life without the standard guidebook. You have to write a new story.
Very true. Still writing that story each day!
Gaga wrote the song about her grandfather the night he passed over.
“Come to the edge," he said. "We can't, we're afraid!" they responded. "Come to the edge," he said. "We can't, We will fall!" they responded. "Come to the edge," he said. And so they came. And he pushed them. And they flew.“ — Guillaume Apollinaire
OOOOHHHHH, nice.
This gave me goosebumps. Thanks for sharing.
Once again.. hitting the mark.
I enjoy reading your post bc it reminds me how small I continue to keep myself. It's usually that culprit called fear that does it to me. When I read it, its alarm bells that sing in my head but what can I do to reach beyond that cliff. Thats where my struggles lay. Keep provoking me with that stick. I do admit I'm lost and not sure where to give, a little overwhelmed with it all which leads to precisely that "stagnation".
Stay safe and keep those thought provoking post coming. 😊❤️
Perhaps a good trigger is discomfort. You feel discomfort...ok, could be a good direction. Brene Brown talks about this a lot. It's antithetical to what our (comfortable) society tells us
Hey Sarah, for me the edge is in my work life. For many years I raised children, grew vegetables and made clothes, gifts etc. then for a decade, as my children grew up and left home, I retrained as an art therapist and now in my late 50's I've stepped back out into public life in practice as an art therapist, which is life on the edge of a powerful emerging process helping people to transform fear and overwhelm into power and expression. I love it!!
The growing and making continue to nourish my centre and enable me to really inhabit this edge fearlessly!
Sarah, I woke up this morning and this was the first thing I saw. It’s brilliant, cuts to the quick and has helped me back myself up and move my arse. Stagnating into comfort and inertia means becoming invisible and irrelevant and choosing not to be part of things. Bollocks to that. Thanks for the kick. I’m going to rabble rouse and get shit done xxxx
I once came across a definition of the word 'deviant' as a Socioculturally Invalidated Innovator. Perhaps a deviant is just someone striving to find their edge X
someone whose vocation (in Jungian sense) and inherent drive is the edge
The edge is especially alluring for the deviant
Oh I love this! Socioculturally invalidated innovator 🙌🏽
ditto. a good IG bio line
My recent 'edge': giving up meat and dairy after about three decades of knowing why it was a good idea. IT IS BRILLIANT!
Hi Sarah, I rarely post comments online (anywhere!) but your latest post reminded me yet again how consistently your insights resonate with me...thank you for your bravery and leadership, speaking uncomfortable truths and inspiring us all to live lives aligned with our values. Just wanted you to know that there are probably loads of people like me who think you rock but don't (often) reach out!
I think I do my best work and experience more personal and spiritual growth when I push myself to the edge. I believe artists need to keep going to their edge to make meaningful work. Meaningful to themselves and others. But sometimes life takes you over the edge when you least expect it. It is at the edge and over where I find I can do things I didn't know I could.
Thanks for your words of wisdom Sarah, a timely reminder of how we can move through these crazy times! For me, working with the edge gets a little easier each time. I've recently found a Maori healing technique that brings my emotional stuff (aka my edges) to the surface to be moved on. It's been one of the ways that's helped me find stable ground on the other side!
So many edges in my life and still here. Ageing as you mentioned. That’s a long journey of discovery. A whole new chapter to my life. Almost 15 years single now and not sure if I will ever repartner. Various illnesses that let you see through
The Veil to the other side and provide the choice to stay or go. Long term staph infection and 2 different cancers are just a few. Am now recovering my health again. My next edge is to get rid of most of what I own (have done so much already), put a few things in storage and then live in my motorhome. Part of me may just be turning into a ‘prepper’ and that is something I never thought I would consider in my lifetime.
Those around us can prefer we stay in a familiar zone rather than ruffling feathers by stretching into new territory. A dear friend who loves platitudes and usually gets all the praise and approval she needs from me without question ended up in tears the other night when I tried a new way of relating… To amuse the dinner table and justify her new car purchase, she dismissed my electric car as not a real car. Instead of smiling sweetly I questioned her viewpoint. She ended up crying that she was under attack. Trying new ways of relating can have disruptive consequences. She had no curiosity about what felt different in our exchange, only hurt. Such a pity.
Dear Sarah,
Your deep longing for understanding of ‘The Something Else’, your willingness to ‘step over the edge’ in order to break through the endless façade of human life, is rare and courageous and beautiful. I truly believe you are someone who hasn’t properly ‘resigned’ to living a numb, comfortable life in denial of the ‘elephant in our living room’, the issue of our psychologically troubled ‘human condition’.
Please, please go to www.humancondition.com and watch Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith explain the underlying issue in all human affairs, our human condition, in an interview at the top of the page.
As Professor Harry Prosen, a former president of the Canadian Psychiatric Assoc., said of Jeremy’s book FREEDOM (which is available free at the above website), “I have no doubt this biological explanation of the human condition is the holy grail of insight we have sought for the psychological rehabilitation of the human race.”
Anyway Sarah, I send you all the love and encouragement in the world for your courageous, truly phenomenal journey and thank you SO much for all your precious contributions to this world, and to me.
A quote I came across many years ago and love, unfortunately I don't know where it is from. Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practise wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.
It's a little terrifying for me to even read this post ... I feel my anxiety rise as I read each quote. But it's a good thing. In many ways that's what faith is ... stepping out over the edge unsure of where one will land. :)
I'm in a season of transition and I sense a call to the edge ...
Thank you again, Sarah, for leading the way. Be safe and love well. xx
Thanks for your words of wisdom Sarah, such a timely reminder of what's needed in these crazy times! For me, working with the edge gets a little easier each time. I've recently discovered a Maori healing technique that brings my emotional stuff (aka my edges) to the surface to be moved on. It's been a comfort to know that I can find stable ground on the other side!