The Threshold

The Threshold (guardians, helpers, mentor) – You reach the jumping-off point, but you come across guardians, who seek to block your path. You must overcome these threshold guardians. You will often find helpers and a mentor to help you do this. These new friends are kindred spirits for your journey.~ From "The Hero's Journey"

The threshold is a scary place to be. When I was a kid, my brother convinced me to jump off the high dive at our local pool. I remember climbing the stairs with false confidence, refusing to look down until I reached the top.

What a heady feeling. Looking up I thought I could almost touch the clouds, but looking down at the tiny square of water I was scared. Despite my fear, I walked to the edge of the board, took a deep breath, and jumped. The only barrier between the deep water and me was the sultry summer air.

When I reached my jumping off point in life, the guardian blocking my path was my husband. He found ways to sabotage my success. When I started graduate school he wondered if it was a good use of my time. When I was offered a lucrative position, he was not pleased. In fact he did not want me to take the job.

Thankfully there were mentors who helped me understand that he was blocking my path. The kindred spirits came in the form of close friends and books that illuminated the path.
Authors like Joan Anderson who wrote the beautiful book, A Year by the Sea.

She was a kindred spirit who had been on a similar journey and was kind enough to share her story. Joan Anderson and others gave me the courage to trust my instincts and jump off that threshold into the sultry summer air.