How I feel about the holiday season

A few months ago, I learned about liminal spaces. The term helped me put a label on a familiar feeling that I could not describe earlier. Liminal spaces are a metaphor for a brief (or sometimes long) state of transition between the end of one event and the beginning of the next. Long flights, airport layovers, walking through hotel hallways, waiting for a date and many other situations in life represent a liminal space.

During the holiday season, a ball of anxiety rolls through my insides and mixes in with the joy of the festive moments. Stating my hopes and aspirations out loud makes me feel as naked and vulnerable as a person standing on a cliff above deep water. What if you fail?, my mind quips.

For many years, the holidays have evoked a melange of emotions. Feelings of fear, excitement, uncertainty and many others I do not understand fuel that ball of anxiety.

The holiday season, especially the last three weeks of the year, is a liminal space between the end of the year and the new year. The new year is daunting - like an empty canvas for an amateur artist. It is ready to be filled with goals, desires, aspirations and whatever else you want.

The beauty of it all? I walk through the liminal space into the new year anyway, hoping that the ball of anxiety becomes a catalyst for growth.

Here’s a YouTube video about the concept of liminal spaces.