What happens when you don’t see anything physical?

No visible boundary and yet –
You know that you’ve crossed a threshold.

Let’s call this an energetic door.

– Gail Conrad

OPENING:
Hello all you Vanguards & Visionaries, Innovators & Rule-Breakers!

So glad you landed here today!

Here we explore the creative and metaphysical, the link between consciousness and invention, so—let’s break some boundaries, turn things upside down & use the chaos to create in a whole new way!

And if you haven’t already, join my Wildscape Adventures list.

You can do this on my website: gailconrad.com

That’s:
https://www.gailconrad.com/

Also there, under Podcast Stories, you’ll find the recent story, “Secrets and The Space between the Space.” 

That one is simply a written episode, and you read it there. So check it out.

And now – here we go! 

(OPENING continues, with MUSIC:)

Hello and welcome to the Wildscape Podcast, sharing tales of stepping into the unknown to create more art, beauty, and magic in your life. I’m your host, Gail Conrad, and today you’re listening to:

YOU’RE IN A HALLWAY –
YOU GO THROUGH A DOOR

 

Hello Everyone,

I could say that this is a story about choices and decisions.

Or, that it’s about hallways and doors.

But here’s my approach –
Think of this as a metaphorical set-up.

Let’s begin with a film scene.
In it, someone’s just arrived in a hallway.
It’s lined with non-descript and identical doors.

They’re alone.
Already, the music turns eerie, even scary.
Watching, you hold your breath.

They stop before one door. There’s no sign.

You’re dying to know what’s inside and at the same time, not sure if you want them to go in.

Your gut says,
Expect the Unexpected.
Deep down you sense, once in, they won’t be the same.

Okay, I’ll pause.

These kinds of scenes can conjure up our deepest fears of what’s behind a door, yet think –

How many doors do you go through in a day?

Whenever I take walks, I like to look at doors, mainly, the doors of houses.

The more distinctive, the more I wonder:

Who lives there?
And next –
What’s the story behind that door? 

You enter a door to your home.
A door to a motel room.
Think of a door to a spa, or a door to a medical examining room.

Sometimes we have clear expectations. Other times don’t know what to expect.

Still, these are all physical doors. Defining physical spaces and boundaries, but –

What happens when you don’t see anything physical?

No visible clue or boundary at all, and yet, deep down, you know that you’ve crossed a threshold.

Let’s call this an energetic door.
I’ll come back to this.

Years ago, I began to design stories for Virtual Reality. The big buzzword was interactive, and these VR stories played on the kind of imagery and feelings that we can have in a dream.

The technology then was way simplistic, head-sets bulky and clunky, the stories basic.

Still, I found myself designing a hallway lined with identical doors. On each door is the same symbol: a giant question mark.

As it happens, the funding’s cut. We never get to develop exactly what lies behind each door.

But looking back, perhaps that’s a good thing. Maybe key.

For here’s my question:

What’s one major decision—pick a big one, that you consciously made in your life? 

Now think –

Could you have known—truly ever have known, all that would happen from making that choice?  

You’re in a hallway.
You go through a door.
The door is a threshold. An energetic border.

On the other side:
Uncertainty. Risk. A new chapter.

I think of it as
Stepping into the Creative Unknown.

Once through, you begin a new story.
Rarely can you tell where the story will go.

Still, we most always imagine something.
So—time for a check-in.

What might you expect?

Well, one challenge:
In this metaphor, the doors have no names, but let’s face it, even if you saw a door titled Fun Times, or Love Door, or Good Luck & Happy Marriage Door, would you believe it?

I’d personally, be suspicious, that such a door would lead to the opposite of what it says.

And even if a door had a title like –
Most Fantastic Place on Earth and suppose with this one, you do believe its title would prove true.

What do you imagine you’d see?
Your version of Shangri-La…?

What if, once through, you don’t see anything visibly different at all?

 This takes me to why I use this metaphor of hallways and doors.

The joke is, most everyone thinks only about those doors but –

What about that hallway?

Do you assume that the hallway is simply a mundane place, and that the big deal—the big “AHA” moment, is only once you go through a door? 

All right, I admit–I set this up, so I’ll add:

Remember, even in fairy tales, what appears to be ordinary never is.

Another hint:
Our thoughts. Our emotions. Our awareness.
It’s all energy.

AND
Always, we create on the energetic plane first.

Now—the hallway.
Let’s revisit that hallway, only think of it too, as an energetic place.

And in this metaphor, you created it, same as you created those doors.

The secret:
The hallway is where you begin to create your next step, your new chapter, even as you move towards a door.

Yet because we create on the energetic plane first, that’s why, once through a door, your experience might not be how you imagined—not like a technicolor dream.

For example, you might think:

I made this change, but I don’t see it. Nothing’s happening!

And yet –
You are newly acting, creating, now physically manifesting.

Little by little, what appeared invisible becomes visible to you. 

Sometimes, I’m asked:
Once you’re through a door, and onto that new story, how do you find that next set of doors?

To me it’s a fascinating question, one I could reply to in many ways.

I could say that you make a series of micro decisions, that lead to other sets of doors. I flash on those nesting dolls, one inside another inside another, like doors inside of doors.

But the image and analogy I like best:

In your personal life story, you again reach a turning point, a sort of a crossroads.

Time to make another significant decision.

So, it happens:
You’re back in that metaphorical hallway, lined with unmarked doors.

Which leads to the inevitable question:

How do you know which door is best for you? 

Here, we could talk about intuition, your courage, and the power of your conscious intent.

But try this out:
Look back upon all of your life’s doors, and biggest life’s stories.

How have you ever known which choice to make? 

Which door to choose? 

I’ll let you answer that.

Thank you.

—
I’m Gail Conrad, your host of the Wildscape Podcast.

The opening music is by Chip Barrow.

And again, do join my Wildscape Adventures list.
The form’s on my website, gailconrad.com.

Also there, you can contact me for coaching sessions, as well as for customized workshops.

Again it’s:
https://www.gailconrad.com/

And everyone, thank you so much for listening.

Bye for now.