Above freezing temps arrived again today. My late afternoon walk felt cold though, due to the dampness. The world turned white briefly overnight last night and the night before. Much of this melts to reveal the green again during the day when the temps rise just enough for snow to disappear.
I've written about liminality often -- the concept being between two spaces and needing to find our way from one point into another. While reading Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love, I came across another term for a similar journey. In Sanskrit, antevasin refers to a person living on a border. In earlier times, a person who chose to move towards a more spiritual state of being, would move out of the village and live on the edge of the forest. In the forest lived the wise ones. The antevasin lived on the border between the known -- village -- and the unknown -- forest and wisdom. I found the author's presentation of this concept extremely interesting. It fit the introspective nature of moving into a new year. At this time, many people take stock of where they currently are and where they are heading. That journey runs through the liminal space between here and there. An antevasin makes a decision to move forward with greater self awareness and understanding. Now, these are deeper goals than the lose weight, healthy eating, physical activity goals that are often undertaken around the new year. Those are often more superficial than understanding what one really wants to change. So, while there may be a border to cross, finding a route through to that imaginary line is also necessary.
Lyrics of a song from a musical movie fit much of the concepts pondered today. This version has a different orchestration than that from the movie. There is the hint of a rock sound to it. Keep safe. Enjoy!
Into the Unknown -- Panic! At the Disco
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