Navigating the space between stories puts us up for an immense challenge. We must seek the others to find hope and support when that which we love falls away, rediscover how to grieve for what we lose and praise what is lost, and learn how to remain alive in the face of death. To not resist being wholly taken by awe at the birth of spring, because ... See more

Three concepts are crucial to the work of van Gennep and Turner: liminality, communitas, and anti-structure. The three terms are closely related and are, in some contexts, interchangeable. Van Gennep introduced the term liminality (from “limen”, i.e., threshold) in The Rites of Passage (1909). In many cultures, elaborate rituals mark important tran

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The philosopher Andrew Taggart believes that crisis moments lead to “existential openings” that force us to grapple with the deepest questions about life.⁠10 He argues there are two typical ways this happens. One is the “way of loss,” when things that matter are taken from us, such as loved ones, our health, or a job. The other path is the “way of

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