By Judi Neal
One of the things that distinguishes Edgewalkers, those who walk on the leading edge, is their willingness to take risks that others might not. I define healthy risk-taking as; “The ability to try what hasn’t been tried before, to trust your instincts, and to break new ground.” Because of their interest in exploring what’s over the horizon and their passion for creating something new, Edgewalkers are likely to take calibrated risks in service of making a difference. With the Edgwalkers I have interviewed, it is not unusual to hear that they have made major changes in their lives. One successful artist destroyed all his work one night and went off to live on an island in Puget Sound to go more deeply into what wanted to emerge through him. A year later he began making art again and his work was more three-dimensional and powerful than ever before. Business leaders have bet the farm on a new product or service. Others have been willing to move to an unknown place because something was calling. Some have closed down or sold companies that became too constraining for where their spirit was leading them.
However, not all risk-taking is made up of dramatic life-changes. Sometimes the risk can be a small act that makes a huge difference. It can be the choice to listen deeply rather than lecturing or trying to control a person. It can be a choice to be vulnerable and to speak your truth to another, even if it might endanger the relationship. It can even be a choice to sit still and just be with yourself and your anxiety when you would rather be up and busy doing anything but listening to your own still, small voice.
It’s important to caliberate between risk-taking and risky behavior. When I talk about risk-taking, the context is taking action in service of something greater. Edgewalkers, in their risk-taking, are responding to a vision of something they want to manifest, and they are willing to do what it takes to create something that has never existed before. They feel a sense of calling and are willing to make the necessary sacrifices to fulfill their destiny.
Risky behavior, on the other hand, comes from the ego and is often not healthy. It is done in the service of thrill-seeking and selfish pleasure. It does not consider the impact on others. I am not talking here of extreme athletes and others who want to push the boundaries of human potential. I am talking about behavior that puts self and others in potential danger. Street racing, drinking games, risky sexual behavior, gambling are examples of unhealthy risky behavior. At the moment they might make someone feel more fully alive, but there is a good chance of potential harm and long-term consequences.
In these days of Covid-19, I have chosen to take zero risk. I have work that matters to me now and in the future, and I want to be healthy and alive to do it. I don’t socialize, even outdoors. I don’t travel, even though I miss my family and friends. I wear a mask, even if I’m just walking on my street. I am calibrating my personal risk very tightly because the negative repercussions on my loved ones and on the work I’m called to do are potentially too high to be worth even the slightest risk. These are my personal decisions and are based on my calibration of the costs vs. gains. Each person has to make their own calibration of the level of risk that works for them in their situation.
A key guiding question is “Am I doing this in the service of what I’m called to do, or is this just for the momentary thrill and pleasure of it?” Your gut and your heart will know the right answer.
Dear Judi
Thank you so much for articulating so powerfully something that feels true for me. What’s a sweet coincidence, is that just before reading this blog, I just watched one of those sentimental Christmas love stories and the underlying theme was about taking the risk to truly believe in your calling. Our hearts always know. Bless you and thank you for helping my understanding of what it means to be an Edgewalker. Gratefully, Barbara
Dear Judi,
As you know walking between worlds isn’t for sissies, it requires courage as you act from the heart, aware of the mind/ego seeking to protect you but also aware that it is limited and has been trained by social mores within the culture you were trained and educated within. I wonder how often I have assessed risk when acting from the heart? My sense is not often, because above all I trust my heart as it speaks from my soul. It takes a rare quality to distinguish when the heart is speaking and not the mind, or ego, and is one that not all people appreciate or want to. The soul has no sense of separation from all that is, it is the mind that separates us from this, and there lays the challenge. The most recognised edgewalkers knew this and always acted from the heart, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed never considered the risks, they acted from their hearts/soul.
Consider the story of the pregnant mother who saw her husband trapped under their car when the jack failed, she simply lifted the car for him to get out from under it, without any thought of the risks for her. If she had she would have faced an incredible dilemma, to save her unborn child from the risk of miscarriage, or her husband or even to lose them both? It seems that acting from her heart saved them both as her body dealt with the desire to save both and automatically dealt with the issues.
The challenge for an edgewalker is surely to understand whether they are truly acting from their heart, or whether it is their ego seeking to be recognised as that and ignoring the heart/soul response. When we act for the good of all the only risk we run is that we don’t offer it in a way that people can readily understand, and that only happens when there is a different intention behind our action, one that maybe benefits us and not others. When fear dominates, the heart struggles to be heard.
Rex, I really appreciate how your thoughtful comments center on the heart. I’m not very familiar with the research, but I’ve heard that scientists have found that the heart has more intelligence than the brain. I love the way you have pointed out that the most recognized Edgewalkers acted from the heart. Also, all of them left home, and left everything familiar because they had a sense of calling and a message to share. And all of them took time in silence, away from the world, to listen more deeply to their Higher Guidance. So many of us have that same collective opportunity right now.
I was once working with a group of Chaplains in Canada, and an amazing elderly woman named Mary told the group her story. She had suffered a brain injury and had been hearing a voice ever since and that voice said it was God. She wanted to know how to tell whether that voice was truly from God or if she was going crazy. Now, if you ever met Mary, you would feel the pure light and love that surrounded her, and I could tell by the other people at the table how much they all loved Mary. Mary was asking the same question about discernment that you are asking Rex, albeit in a little bit different context. My answer to her was that if the voice was loving and was encouraging her to be more loving, then she could trust that it was the voice of the Divine. Or for someone who is not religious, we could say the voice of the heart.
Edgewalkers actually seldom, if ever, feel like they are taking a risk. It just looks like a risk to others. Because the Edgewalker listens to his or her heart, they just know what the right thing to do is. This inner knowing comes from the heart, and there is no fear. My favorite line of your reply is “When fear dominates, the heart struggles to be heard.” Thank you for that wisdom Rex.
Thank you Judi for a well written article. Sometimes serving means honoring self and others by being thoughtful and safe.
Margaret Ann
Margaret Ann, thank you so much for that wisdom. In the case of COVID, sometimes the most loving thing we can do is to stay away from others. As social beings, and as spiritual beings, we want to be connected to people we care about. We want to hug, hold hands, sit across the table with a cup of tea and have deep conversations, or to have fun and laugh uproariously together. But for many of us right now, the best way to be of service is to quietly be by ourselves. The Universe is giving us a great chance to listen deeply to what wants to emerge in each of us when this is all over, and to begin to imagine and plan for a world that learns from some of the breakdowns that have happened during these various crises.
Dearest Judi,
I just wrote a magnificent, LOL, comment here for you on your blog post. Then, I went to check a word and lost the entire thing. So, in a few words; I absolutely love what you wrote, it is very relatable, for me, and speaks to the gifts that come to us in solitude, in practicing self-care and all that those things present as creativity and reflection. This is, after all, the time of the Underground and being comfortable in that space of reflection and the deep dive into our hearts. I loved reading all the wonderful comments and especially what Rex wrote on the heart. I listen to my heart more than my brain because my heart combines wisdom with feeling and that is where I feel the spiritual pull, the pull to truth and to walking on the edge, that is where I know my noble purpose will and is taking me. Love you
Hi Karen, thanks so much for your perseverance and your willingness to rewrite your comments after they disappeared. Yes, even if there were no pandemic right now, this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere invites us to go underground into the quiet winter of being nurtured by the mantle of Mother Earth. You are a wonderful example of someone who goes into that deep quiet place and then who brings back gifts of wisdom and poetry. I invite you, if you ever feel called to, to share poems that might be relevant to whatever topic we’re focusing on in these blogs. Love, Judi
Thanks for that article, Judi. I guess I’ve taken some dramatic risks over the years to do what I was called to do – leaving a lucrative career to do something completely different, living in spiritual communities, walking the Appalachian trail, moving across the country and around the world. But sometimes I think it’s the little day-to-day risks to do things differently than before that are even more scary and profound. Letting go of identification with one’s belief systems and emotions and being fully present and vulnerable in any given situation is often a risk worth taking.