Deliberate Disruption: Claiming A Life Beyond Survival

Image by Gabs @https://www.lummi.ai/

2023 was my year of deliberate disruption - a phrase I coined for myself back in 2021 when I began to seriously consider leaving formal employment and creating something entirely new. Up until that point, so much of life had been about survival - even the work I did. I entered corporate life by default, guided by circumstances and opportunities rather than conscious choice.

As time passed and as I changed, I began to question who I truly was on a fundamental level. What did it mean to live fully, beyond mere survival? This piece explores my reflections on the concept of disruption - what it is, why it matters, and how it can open pathways to transformation. It is also an invitation for you to reflect on your own life: what does disruption mean to you? Is it always something to fear, or can it be the catalyst that leads to profound and necessary change?

The dictionary defines disrupt as “to break apart, to throw into disorder, to interrupt the normal course of something.” Yet disruption need not be dramatic or loud. It can start as a ripple on a still surface - a quiet rebellion. Saying no to something that drains you, walking away from a toxic job or relationship, questioning why life is moving in one direction when your heart is tugging you towards something more.

It is the act of stepping off a path that no longer serves you, of questioning the assumptions and cultural norms that have quietly dictated your choices. Disruption asks you to stop surviving and begin truly living.

We can see this mirrored in nature, where disruption is not destruction; it is transformation. The seasons remind us of this. Autumn shows us that shedding is necessary, even beautiful, to make space for what is yet to come. Winter slows us into stillness, spring brings renewal, and summer offers expansion. Each season carries its own disruption, its own rhythm of death and rebirth.

The moon waxes and wanes, the sun rises and sets, and eclipses temporarily hide what has always been there. Even the tides come in and ebb again, never clinging, always moving, showing us that flow and change are the most natural states of all.

And so, are we. Layered beings, forever shifting, needing to shed what no longer belongs, to reveal the hidden mysteries of who we are and all that we can become.

To take that leap is to embrace both the beauty and the fear - the earth-shatteringly scary moments that make us feel alive again. It is in these moments of deliberate disruption that we reclaim agency over our lives and allow ourselves to step into a state of possibility, expansion, and joy. It is an invitation to reimagine, rethink, and rewire a life that is calling us in a new direction.

Disruption, in its quietest forms, is an invitation. It asks you to reconsider what you have accepted or endured, to reimagine what is possible, and to reclaim your own voice in a world that constantly shapes you to conform. It reminds

you that life is not a straight line but a series of undulating, interconnected ripples. To disrupt is to honor yourself, to honor the rhythms of your own becoming, and to live a life that is ever-evolving, joyful, and whole.

For me, disruption is more than an action - it is a natural part of my being. It is not simply leaving a corporate career I had devoted decades to, though that was a pivotal moment. It is embedded in the way I move through life, the way I think, and the way I create. To disrupt and be disrupted has always been my path toward growth, self-expression, and freedom. It is how I reclaim space for what truly matters: meaningful work, authentic connection, and a life aligned with my values.

This understanding of disruption informs the work I now do at The Holding Space - that life unfolds in patterns, stories, and habitual ways of moving, breathing, and being. When we interrupt these patterns - gently, intentionally, and with awareness, we create space for meaningful shifts. These shifts ripple outward, affecting how we show up, how we relate, and how we live our lives. Deliberate disruption becomes not just an act, but a practice of liberation - an unshedding of all you once thought yourself to be - ideas, beliefs, perceptions - and a coming home to the freedom of choosing who you will become.

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Disruption is not just something that happens externally; it asks us to look within. As you finish reading, take a moment to pause and reflect on your own life. Consider these questions as a way to explore what disruption might mean for you:

What small acts of disruption - saying no, stepping away, questioning a long-held belief - have you resisted in your own life? What might happen if you allowed yourself one intentional disruption this week?

Consider the ways you have unconsciously survived rather than fully lived. How might deliberately disrupting one of those patterns open a new path toward freedom, creativity, or joy?

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