Doorways to Transformation is an offering for the soulâa guidebook for everyday spiritual and creative growthâa celebration of the ordinary. It is an invitation to uncover all of who you are and dare to express it.
Karen Kinney offers a treasure trove of wisdom to bolster your creativity and your larger life. Drawing from her experience as a professional artist, writer, and practitioner of contemplative spirituality, she leads you on a liberating journey of greater self-awareness and expansion. Interspersing insights gleaned from living cross-culturally in Mexico, Kinney shares reflections on the creative process, abundance, stepping into your power, navigating fear, and embracing the unknown.
These meditations will encourage you to observe life more deeply, letting what you see and experience touch your inner core and awaken new growth. May you be inspired to live the larger life calling to you and empowered to act as an agent of change in your own story.
Doorways to Transformation is an offering for the soulâa guidebook for everyday spiritual and creative growthâa celebration of the ordinary. It is an invitation to uncover all of who you are and dare to express it.
Karen Kinney offers a treasure trove of wisdom to bolster your creativity and your larger life. Drawing from her experience as a professional artist, writer, and practitioner of contemplative spirituality, she leads you on a liberating journey of greater self-awareness and expansion. Interspersing insights gleaned from living cross-culturally in Mexico, Kinney shares reflections on the creative process, abundance, stepping into your power, navigating fear, and embracing the unknown.
These meditations will encourage you to observe life more deeply, letting what you see and experience touch your inner core and awaken new growth. May you be inspired to live the larger life calling to you and empowered to act as an agent of change in your own story.
Transitions. Crossing thresholds. Steps of faith. Releasing what has come before as we cross the murky and undefined landscape of in-between. The discomfort of temporary spaces plants seeds of doubt. But I cannot ignore the vision that beats in my heart; the potential I can sense is coming as I believe for a future not yet realized. It has become clear that a new container is required for growth.
âJOURNAL ENTRY, APRIL 16, 2018Â
Ah, transition. It is not my strong suit, yet persevere I must. Because good things await. How do I create from this new energy source? I wonder. It is still so unfamiliar. And Iâm struggling to find my footing, feeling thrown off track in my work. I remind myself that the steps to create remain unchanged...simply choose to sit down and do the work. Show up at the page. This makes sense.
I mull over these thoughts as I enter into my second month of living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. So many reasons inspired this move, including a long- held desire to live internationally and an aspiration to transition from an art career to writing and teachingâwork that feels even more aligned with my soulâs purpose. Getting to this point has been years in the making, and I wonder if the second chapter of my life is beginning in this country. So much is new. Everything is, really.Â
Transitions are no easy feat. They challenge us at the core of our being, requiring us to become a lump of clay for a whileânot yet here and not yet there. Some days I feel as if I am being forced into a lump of clay, as if there is no other option. Perhaps that is why Iâve been unable to shake my unsettled feelings and keep trying to define things ahead of schedule. The truth is, I am not good at being a lump of clay. I prefer the defined lines of planning and execution, and would prefer to bypass the gray areas that linger in between.
But ever so slowly, necessity is teaching me that it is okay to be not yet formed. Even though this grates against my nature, in reality I know that any passage from one thing to the next requires a period of venturing into the unknown. To cross its threshold, we must surrender what is familiar and be willing to journey through the darkness. And the only way out is through.
I remind myself once more to enjoy the journey and take comfort in knowing that the calling coming to me isnât in a hurry. Therefore, I donât need to be in a hurry. Pressure subsides as I exhale, allowing myself to more fully surrender to this great unknowing and its incubating darkness.Â
Transitions to something new often belie themselves with their enticing outward appearance. We forget that profound shifts are occurring underneathâthings of substance that only reveal themselves over time. But this journey of allowing murky waters is a necessary prelude for what will follow, making the work of transition an integral time of laying the foundations for future growth.
I sit in a quiet nature preserve just outside of town and allow rest to overcome me as I let my head drop over my body. As I enter into this posture of relaxation, a small butterfly emerges from the grass and flies to a jagged rock a few feet away, vigorously beating its wings and finally growing still. This feels like a confirmation of my own surrenderâmy embrace of this glorious unknown.
As I observe the butterfly, I notice how it blends with its surroundings and is designed perfectly for this particular terrain. These thoughts ricochet back to my spirit, and I am graced with the awareness that I too am meant for this new land that I inhabit. I no longer need to see what my own lump of clay will become. There is a glory in life being unformed, one we so easily miss in our pursuit of âthe next thing.â The unknowing will work itself out in due time, paving the way for our own metamorphosis.Â
REFLECTIONS
⢠How well do you navigate the murky waters of transition?Â
⢠Do you struggle with things being unformed in your life?
⢠How might these âlumps of clayâ be invitations to welcome a passage into the unknown more fully?
Â
The last two (plus) years have been challenging for the best of us. Lockdowns, 24/7 global news coverage, crises after crises, current affairs have taken a huge toll on even the most resilient of individuals, let alone the those of us who are prone to succumbing to negative thoughts and letting them play out into the everyday.
Against this backdrop Karen Kinney enters into the ring with her new book Doorways to Transformation, a self-help guide that aims to restore self-belief and confidence to the reader by means of personal mediation. Each chapter opens with an inspirational quote and closes with reflective questions or prompts to encourage the reader to broaden their horizons and apply the learnings on that topic to their unique situation. Of the 37 bite-sized chapters few go by without a nod to a personal experience linked to the topic in hand.
That's what I like about Kinney, she brings a very real and relatable touch to this book by bringing in her own personal experiences (and challenges) from her relocation from America's Los Angles to the city of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico.
The digestibility of this book also appealed to me. I'm a busy woman at the best of times and there are days where five minutes to myself can seem an utter luxury. The brief nature of the chapters meant I could pick this up and quickly flick to the relevant section before diving straight back into the hustle and bustle of daily life. Kinney even states in the introduction that there is no order to how the chapters should be digested, that their placement should be seen more as a guideline; music to my ears!
For anyone looking for a mid-morning alterative to coffee, Doorways to Transformation is the perfect pick-me-up. Caffeine, in paper form.
AEB Reviews