On the cusp. Ooooh, I love that phrase! Astrologically speaking, it means "at or during a time of transition, as the moment of or just before a major change or event."

Feeling as if we are in transition -- that we are neither here nor there, but somewhere undefined -- makes us more willing to leap forward into an adventure; welcome a new challenge; embrace a new way of being; honor a spontaneous, surprising quest. It's the amorphousness that nudges us to step out beyond the precipice or step onto a new path.

On the cusp of a new direction is right where this month's Quest Maker finds herself now. When she listened to her heart's response to a treasured gift of her mother's poems, she found herself on that spontaneous, surprising quest and writing a book. When Gauamole Conversations was finished, Susan Woods realized she had written a love letter to her mother.

Now she finds herself on the cusp of a new direction as she thinks about what semi-retirement might look like. I am not surprised! For by honoring that quest and writing her book, Susan has seeded her world with possibility, with her creative energy. Who knows where on the cusp will take her next?!  

On the cusp. That is where I find myself, too. When I picked up my own book writing project again, I seeded my world with creative energy, too. It led Kathleen Bohn to send me Susan who has published a book! It has led me to become a consultant for one of my favorite places in the whole wide world (my public library), where I will help create programming for adults in their prime (just like we are!) -- right up Your Next Quest's proverbial alley. How this will enhance what I have to share in the book and with you! 

On the cusp. . .who knows where it will take any of us next?

 PS. Susan on her favorite flower: "I have quite a backyard full of flowers and I do have a favorite. Oriental poppy! Those vibrant big orange flowers with dark purple black rising in the center surrounded by little stamens that hang down like fringe on a lady's hat. They are an extraordinary flower -- beautiful, strong and fragile all at the same time. Every year I wait for them to bloom in early summer."

(Photo: © ChickenFreak)

A Christmas gift from her youngest sister -- a book full of poems written by their mother when she lived on the Texas Gulf Coast -- set Susan Woods on a spontaneous quest to connect once more with this remarkable woman. Reflecting on their relationship, she found herself  responding to her mother's poems by writing short prose pieces. In the process of exploring "that bond that fell between the lines and beneath the surface of their every day interactions," she realized she had written a love letter to her mother in book form, Guacamole Conversations: Mother Daughter Reflections Across Time and Place. In her early 60's now, Susan is on the cusp of moving in a new direction as she explores where Guacamole Conversations may lead her next.