After a gentle rain last night robins and blue jays are in my backyard turning over leaves and tilling the soil along the edge of the concrete patio and along the border of the flower bed. Why along the edges, I wonder to myself. Is this where the worms and grubs congregate after a rain? Perhaps seeds collect there? Whatever the reason, edges are the food hot-spot for these birds today.
An edge is the boundary between one thing and another. Psychologically, we conceptualize an edge between the ego and the unconscious, the “I” and the “not I,” the known and the unknown. We feel comfortable in the known, the familiar, the “I” we recognize ourselves to be. But it’s the “not I”, the unknown and unfamiliar where our growth lies and our future awaits. Beyond the edges are the realities we have not yet discovered, the potentials we have not yet developed, the larger personality we are meant to attain. The edge beckons us towards the expansion of our being, the development of our gifts, and the fullest realization of our individuality. Beyond the edges, if we have the courage to go over them, lies our destiny.
Like the robins and blue jays digging up soil in the edges of my backyard, it is on the far side of our edges that the food of our soul is found.