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A Few Thoughts on Invitations

April 9, 2020

We like to talk about the opportunities and the gifts of times of crisis.

But a gift implies receiving and taking. It suggests that all we have to do is put out our hands and unwrap the opportunities on offer.

This is a static, passive stance. It waits for the answers to fall into our lap.

The alternative is to hear the questions we are asked.

If we listen closely enough, we’ll find that the questions we’re asked are no normal questions.

They are invitations.


An invitation has several distinct features.

An invitation can be accepted or declined. It demands a response.

And it doesn’t end with the response. An invitation requires enactment. You don’t just accept an invitation. You go. You show up.

An invitation is a portal. It requires a stepping through. It’s a doorway with its own gravitational pull, daring you to cross the threshold into new frontiers.

Within the invitation lies new possibilities that did not exist without it.


Sometimes we’re invited directly. Other times, we have to search for the hidden, veiled invitations that are waiting to be noticed.

What invitations have you received?

What invitations have you missed?

And how will you respond?

This is the moment.


This post is part of a new series:

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