I admit with equal parts embarrassment and excitement that I recently learned something new—from Chatty Cathy, my AI writing partner. What started as a playful experiment has become a true creative collaboration. Cathy now helps me when I’ve hit a wall and need a boost—like recently, when I was finishing a deeply reflective application to be considered as a mindfulness coach for a new online platform.

I’d given it my all—until the final two questions. Tapped out, but wanting to submit soon, I turned to Cathy. I shared my responses for context and asked for help with the last questions.

She came back quickly (as always), and one of her suggestions included the term “liminal spaces.” And here’s where I confess something vulnerable—especially for someone who loves words and prides herself on vocabulary: I thought she’d made a mistake. Surely, she meant luminal, or something else entirely. I was about to edit it out… but I paused and asked her to explain.

Here’s what she said:

“Liminal space refers to a transitional or in-between state. It’s that threshold moment when one chapter has ended but the next hasn’t fully begun. It can feel uncertain or disorienting, but it’s also rich with potential for transformation, insight, and growth.”

Cue the ah-ha. It was perfect for what I was trying to say about the uncertainty so many are facing. And how had I not known this word? Once I learned it, I started seeing it everywhere.

Take my work on the Education Council with ITLA, the International Transformative Learning Association (and please don’t tell them I didn’t know this term!). On a prep call for an upcoming webinar featuring Larry Green—noted psychotherapist, teacher, and author—guess what he’s written about? Transformative Learning: A Passage through the Liminal Zone.

Now I see it everywhere and can’t believe I ever missed it. There are courses, guides, even certifications to become a “Liminal Guide.”

So why share this?

• Because it’s freeing to admit we don’t know something—and joyful to discover it.
• Because sometimes the unfamiliar word, idea, or space we want to dismiss is exactly where the new insight lies.
• Liminal spaces—those hallways between rooms—may feel strange or uncomfortable, but they’re fertile ground for transformation. What might shift if we stopped racing through them and chose to be in the experience instead?
• Isn’t that where many of us are now? Especially with so much technology-charged change—somewhere between what was and what will be?

One of Larry Green’s points is that traditional cultures used rites of passage to guide people through liminal experiences—supporting them as the old dissolved and the new emerged.

Could we perhaps do the same—support our passageways with greater mindfulness, community, and care?

Here’s to your finding light along your liminal path!