The Edge

I gratefully just got vaccinated. I don’t know about you, but I am feeling the edge, and edginess, of this moment. On paper, this affords the opportunity to be on the other side of a constantly fearful state of getting sick, and symbolizes a return of some sort, at least to the things we want to return to. 

And yet getting my shots has landed me right on the edge—and I feel called to linger here. I had the timely gift of being on the beach as I waited out the last days of my second shot and the power and provocation of edges were part of every breath—of mine and of the constantly shifting dance between land and sea. 

Edge as aliveness. Beckoning me to play, dance, connect, exchange.

Edge as yearning. Tapping my depths of desire, possibility, hope.

Edge as risk. Investing boldly in the unconfirmable.

Edge as vision. Scaling up my dreams and viewscapes.

Edge as abundance. Relishing the diversity and fertility where edges meet.

Edge as balance. Activating my presence and steadiness.

Edge as inquiry. Investigating what I want to release, what is needed, what is seeded.

This inspired a return to Arundhati Roy’s profound “The Pandemic is a Portal” written days after the world shut down last March. I would suggest it is even more powerful to read in the wake of the terrible and terrifying impacts of COVID, challenging leadership, and global inequality playing out in India now, and in light of all that has transpired in the U.S. these last 15 months. As a reminder, she writes,

“Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it”.

My two shots signify that I, in some way, am being pushed out of the portal. A growing number of us are. What am I dragging with me still? What are you? What are we?

Those of us living, working, breathing in the social justice space have found an opening amongst the devastating grief, impacts, and experiences of the past year to shine a sharp and fierce light on our prejudice, our avarice, our dead ideas. But I’ll be honest, the collective luggage, and my personal luggage at times, still feels heavy. While we may be moving through the gateway, we’ll be traveling and shedding our luggage for likely years to come. For this, we’ll need a compass (and will probably benefit from some Marie Kondo guidance).

Edge as compass. 

My compass is my values. This edge state invites a rich revisiting, refreshing, and recommitting to what will guide me, inspire me, and, yes, also spark joy! Coming out of the last year, what values have served you well? Your family? Your organization? What hasn’t served? What is needed—and what will you seed? 

Come join me on the edge for a little while. Let’s continue to shed our load and reflect on what is needed to nurture the new world we are co-creating. During a year of marked muddiness, the view is refreshingly and essentially clarifying.

-Ginger Daniel
Principal, Orange Strategies
ginger@orangestrategies.org | www.orangestrategies.org