Introduction

Our life stories are punctuated by a series of thresholds — doorways we walk through, chosen or not, that land us in new territory. They include major life events such as falling in love, becoming a parent, landing a dream job, losing someone we love, or facing an unwelcome diagnosis. Equally important are the daily and even internal thresholds that present us with important opportunities to consider how we want to be in the world — how we want to spend our energy and time, habits we want to change, ways we seek to grow, and what stories we want to carry forward or relinquish. 

John O’Donohue writes, “A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms and atmospheres.” Whether joyful or devastating, outwardly visible or internally felt, the thresholds in our lives merit our presence and careful attention. They invite us to pause, attune to the whole landscape of our lives, and gather the resources we need to live fully into what’s on the other side.

Such threshold crossings are ideal opportunities for turning to the foundational gratefulness practice, Stop.Look.Go:

• STOP invites us to pause, to slow down, to get centered in ourselves and the moment: I have arrived at a threshold. May I feel my feet on the ground, my breath moving in and out of my lungs, the wisdom of my own heart. 
• From that place of stillness, we are able to LOOK clearly, with insight and perspective: I open myself to this threshold moment. May I take in the details and meaning of this experience. May I be aware of its significance in the story of my life and how I am showing up. 
• Only then are we able to GO, to be fully alive to what lies before us: I can step across this threshold, even if the pathway ahead is uncertain. I have gathered the inner wisdom, community, and resources I need to cross this threshold. 

Like any practice, it’s simpler on paper than it is in our lives. When a threshold is exciting, it’s easy to move so quickly through it that we miss some of its richness. We’re so eager for what is calling us forth that we may not fully savor the gift that is being offered and the very journey we’re on. And when a threshold is unwelcome or painful, we may get stuck at STOP, finding it difficult to move out of a kind of liminal space — an in-between space of unknowing. It can feel impossible to imagine life in the unfamiliar territory ahead. 

This collection of resources offers an invitation to consider a current threshold in your own life. There may be a significant event you’re experiencing right now that you’d like to explore through this lens. Or you might focus on something less outwardly monumental but still very meaningful — perhaps an internal shift you’ve wanted to make or even how you transition from one part of your day to another. The metaphor of the threshold can be a powerful tool for navigating both inner and outer change and transition, one that yields new perspective, courage, and even greater ease and joy. In some sense, we are always arriving at a new threshold, each instant of our lives a kind of doorway between this moment and the next. May we approach, take stock, and cross into our futures with eyes open, hearts fully awake.

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• Is there a change in your life right now — internal or external, small or large — that would be enriched and supported by approaching it as a threshold?

We look with uncertainty
beyond the old choices for
clear-cut answers
to a softer, more permeable aliveness
which is every moment
at the brink of death;
for something new is being born in us
if we but let it.
We stand at a new doorway,
awaiting that which comes…
daring to be human creatures,
vulnerable to the beauty of existence.
Learning to love.