Where Edgedancers Find Home

The tide was way out. Further than I’ve seen it in a long time. A whole other layer was revealed of the breakwater. A layer where the large stones were not ordered to create a smooth gradient. But were instead a messy disordered pile, which then gave way to tall spikes of sea kelp that stuck straight up from the low waves.

I was out for a walk to the lighthouse. And while I began near the top of the breakwater, I soon found myself standing on these revealed rocks. I hopped lightly from one to the other, keeping my balance as I navigated a non-existent path encrusted with limpets and barnacles. I was edgedancing. Quite literally. But then I’ve been an Edgedancer all my life…

Edgedancers are those who feel compelled to lean into what might be possible. They’re discontent with doing things the way they’ve always been done. Oftentimes, they don’t actually intend to be rebellious or contrary – they just long to experience life in ways that feel more congruent to their desires, their values, their relationships, their dreams. They are the ones who are doing the things that others have said couldn’t be done. And they do so as part of their nature – like it didn’t really occur to them to do things any other way.

When I started school at 4yrs old, I asked for an old wooden chair as the new plastic ones irritated the backs of my knees. Everyone else sat on their moulded bright orange chairs, and I sat on a lovely wooden one, where the surfaces were so worn that in places it felt like silk. When I was about 8 in sewing class, we were making cloth dolls. All the girls made girl dolls. All the boys made boy dolls. And I made an old man doll with overalls, a bald pate and a white beard. At high school I would wear tie dye one day and a man’s suit the next, my wardrobe a weird and wonderful collection of clothes that I trawled through vintage clothes shops for.

And so it goes on. Married with a baby at 19 when almost all my friends were enjoying their singledom. Home-educating my kids, when virtually everyone else I knew with kids enrolled them in school. A phd in Stephen King… can’t be many out there with one of those. And even if they were, I bet they weren’t home-educating their 3 kids at the same time! Then building up a business as a goddess guide offering intuitive readings, stories, and various practices to promote strong ways of accessing our inner-knowing.

You can probably see where I’m going with this. And, chances are, if you’re reading this, you can probably identify with much of it. If not in the detail, then in the over-arching desire to do things differently. At every point, if there was an established way of doing something, I would quietly ignore it and do my own thing anyway. I didn’t do it to be difficult. I didn’t do it to make a point. I just did it. Because, at the time, it felt like the right thing for me to do.

But, you know, even if you’re not well-practiced in this flirtation with the peripheries of what is possible, an established edgedancer, you may still feel the call to explore there. Ever said to yourself, “There must be something more? There must be something else out there for me? This can’t be all there is?” This is your secret Edgedancing self whispering in your ear, tempting you to explore a different way of doing things. A way that would nourish you, that would call you into loving service, that would seek creative expression in a myriad of ways.

And this is some scary shit right here. If only because it sounds so seductive, right? It also feels scary because Edgedancers are still in the minority right now. When we look around us, we may see most people towing the line, keeping the status quo, not rocking the boat. Sometimes doing so at the expense of their own happiness. And, it can be a really scary thing to strike out and carve your own way in the world. I get that. Oh boy, do I get that.

Which is why I think it’s so key to reach out and connect with other Edgedancers. It’s partially a safety in numbers thing, but it’s also inspiring, encouraging, and comforting. To witness others modelling what dancing at the edge of things looks like for them, helps us to be more courageous in improvising our own dance. As well as showing us what’s possible.

This is where I think the internet has really gifted us. We are now able to connect with other Edgedancers, regardless of our geography, and build our communities with deep heartfelt resonance. While dancing at the edge, we can can still connect with others. We can still find home.

The Practical Magic Business Circle is one of the place where I hope Edgedancers will feel at home. They’ll be able to see what each other are doing in their businesses, the ways in which they are forging their paths in life, and be able to lean into what that might look like for them. They’ll be able to find the strength and the courage to take deliciously sustainable actions to grow their businesses, and they’ll see the results of these individual actions reflected in the results experienced by our circle as a collective.

Because it can feel scary, mysterious, obscure, and/or isolating to live as an Edgedancer – but only when we don’t reach out to connect with others. It is my hope that one of the gifts to come out of the next round of the Practical Magic Business Circle, is that the practice of edgedancing is beautifully supported, both over the coming months while the circle is communing, and beyond.

To make sure you don’t miss the announcement of the next round, then please do sign up to my mailing list! You can do that by clicking here….

Here’s to Edgedancers! May we dance long, may we dance wild, and may our dance inspire others to do the same!