Openings Expand Us

I think often of walking the path of my journey. I haven’t thought much about Openings . I realize they are a key part of my journey. I’ll pay attention to this!

Status Quo

If life were always even, we wouldn’t have some of our challenges with change. We could, however, fall into a sense of monotony and life would seem rather dull and uneventful. The arc of the Hero’s Journey begins with The Ordinary World. The hero is living life as society dictates and the path is well known.

Status Quo means living life as it is in the present without much attention to how things could be. We go along with what is expected by others or by society. Life is not very colorful. We do meet some challenges – loss, disappointment, failure – and we handle them. Life is fairly uniform, for good or bad, as it is for those around us.

Within the status quo, being different is often frowned upon. There is not much acceptance of things outside the present norm. Those things involve too much risk. Better to stay safe and in alignment with norms. Stepping outside makes others feel unsure of their choices to stay with the status quo. Within the status quo, life is believed to be steady and predictable.

Shaking Things Up

Saying “yes” to Openings shakes things up. Life as it is gets questioned. The familiar is questioned, as well. The unfamiliar is now in front of us. Change beckons us to walk through the Opening. We know that what we know in the present may not remain, if we walk through the Opening. In the Hero’s Journey, Openings are The Call to Adventure.

Openings are opportunities for growth and transformation that are presented to us. They can be self-perpetuated or come by surprise. An Opening may come in the form of an insight, a dramatic change, a person we meet, an expansion or contraction in our life or a new opportunity. Inherent in the nature of an Opening is change – often profound change.

Shaking things up jolts us off the worn path we were on. In the process we are shaken. Even the appearance of an Opening can change things for us. It is there and we have a choice to make – to walk through it or not. We usually can’t ignore an Opening or pretend it isn’t there. It has changed things and now we must respond.

How We Expand

Openings, by their nature, cause us to expand. We are asked to leave our status quo and consider something different for our lives. Openings are individual – everyone doesn’t receive the same Opening opportunities. Openings are tailored to each of our unique journeys. This makes it ineffective to look to others for our answers. We must look within ourselves and that, in itself, expands us.

As an Opening appears, it does not lay out its path form start to finish. We are faced with the unknown. We must say “yes” or “no” to the Opening. There is risk involved. Getting comfortable with the unknown is one of the most expansive things we can do in life. In doing so, we accept the presence of the unknown while much of society tries, unsuccessfully, to say it is not there.

If an Opening makes us feel uncomfortable, that, too, is expansive. All of a sudden, we are questioning things. Our status quo doesn’t seem as safe anymore. We see new possibilities, whether we favor them or not. Our safe havens may not feel safe anymore. Our perspective is changed and our comfort zone is breached.