What does it mean to be a Liminalist?

Hint: It includes letting go of seeing wellness as the work “to be completed” and step into the joy of always being in transition. Let’s dive in 🕳️.

I was 14 when I got a computer with dial-up internet in my bedroom. It was the best day of my life. I could chat past 10pm on AIM with my crush from French class and I could spend hours Googling the answers to all my existential life questions without my brother fighting me to use our shared computer downstairs to play EverQuest.

I remember it like it was yesterday: Googling “what is Taoism?” or “Poetry from Kahlil Gibran,” and “what is the mind-body connection?” This was around the same time I asked my Mom if I could go to therapy, so I think it’s fair to say, this was the age I began seeking. Looking back on the past 20 years, the most consistent thing about me has been my love and fascination for wellness, psychology, philosophy, spirituality, ancient wisdom, movement —you name it.

I “Eat, Pray, Loved” my way through my twenties, admittedly more eating and loving than praying, but I’m making up for that now. I was always searching for something, never knowing exactly what it was and being incredibly hard on myself in the process. The voice in my head would say “what’s wrong with you, why haven’t you found your calling yet?”, “why on earth are you wasting time being a Matchmaker?”, “you’ll never have financial security as a community builder, get a real job.” Yikes. 🫤

Looking back now, it feels so clear. All of these seemingly non-linear dots were slowly connecting to show me the constellation of my purpose. The distractions were there as a gift to invite me to go deeper, to ask myself more questions because, until now, I wasn’t ready to see the whole picture.

I am here to make wellness approachable and fun. I don’t call personal growth, healing or self-improvement “the work” because it genuinely doesn’t feel that way for me anymore. Years ago, I realized that thinking there is a problem to be solved is the only problem to be solved. When we approach ourselves from a place of lack, its becomes our job to make ourselves whole. Which, in my experience is an exhausting endeavor that requires a lot of effort with disappointing results.

My invitation to you is to let go of seeing wellness as the work “to be completed” and step into the joy of always being in transition.

Alongside the team that helped me bring Quilt into the world, we’re building Liminal, 1:1 coaching in a progress-focused app to help you move through life and career transitions with ease. 88% of Liminalists make significant progress on their goals in just one week.

And, I’m starting this newsletter, The Liminalist — a weekly share of my time in liminal space, past & present, and tools to explore your own. I want to share 20 years of personal ah-ha moments from working with guides — coaches, healers, teachers, therapists, practitioners (you know who you are, thank you) — and easy, fun, digestible ways to integrate these moments into your day-to-day. And, since I want this to be a tool that works and not just another thing to consume in your day, here’s how the format will look until it doesn’t because… change is constant:

1. Awareness: an ah-ha moment or something to ponder

2. Exploration: my rabbit hole on a topic, which may include a personal story and/or research from different angles including science, spirituality, psychology and philosophy

3. Integration: an easy way to explore this on your own, which could look like content from Liminal, a routine, or question

This is for you, if like me, you are a Liminalist; someone who welcomes being in the state of in-between and transition, understands that the only constant is change, who is dedicated to self-exploration and looks forward to updating their personal operating system one moment of self-awareness at a time.

If you’re still reading this, thank you. This is my first take at a newsletter so I welcome your feedback or guidance. Future issues will be shorter than this introduction, maybe.

Let’s dive in 🕳

Ashley

CEO + Founder of Liminal