Welcoming Spaces

(Local View from 4'2, Lake County Press, November 28, 2025)

Creating and Sharing Welcoming Spaces

In recent weeks I have been in so many spaces. Medical spaces, leadership spaces, driving spaces, resting spaces, growing spaces, fun/laughter provoking spaces and uncomfortable spaces are just a few that make my list. In all of these spaces I felt welcomed to show up, to take space, and to let the walls down in vulnerability as I wanted.

Here are some of the lessons learned in these spaces. Medical spaces have been an intense and consistent part of my being for over thirty-eight years of being a disabled person. It is shocking and sad that we as a society have to have posters in waiting rooms and treatment spaces to remind us to “Be Kind. (to our providers) No abusive language. No violence. No weapons.” You know there had to be multiple issues for this type of campaign to be needed in a multi-state covering medical system. Not only do patients need to feel welcome and safe but also workers.

Leadership spaces for me have held a lot of different physical spaces across our state. From board rooms to retreat centers, I have been in lots of vulnerable and growth building opportunities which also includes Zoom rooms. Almost all of these spaces have met my basic human needs while other retreat spaces and more importantly the trusted people in them met my needs I didn’t even know that I had. I took a chance last spring to invest in myself as a leader and human by applying for a leadership institute that had two in person retreats and seven months of Zoom meetings in between. It was absolutely life changing with ten other amazing leaders from Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, Arizona, California and Minnesota. We created, sustained, and continue to have welcoming and safe spaces for each other to grow and wrestle with all the hard things life and leadership bring our way.

Driving spaces have been a lot lately. I have spent more hours sitting than I typically have done in recent months due to my surgery this summer. Also night driving…uffda. It is amazing to think back to my younger eyes and their ability to go with the flow but now my eyes are in their middle life adventure where they have no idea what they want or when. I guess my little cataracts are having a party when I don’t know it.

Resting spaces are hard for me. I tend to have an all or nothing personality which has its strengths and weaknesses. Rest doesn’t always mean sleep but it can include more things like creative pursuits, fun and laughter. For me, I need a good balance of resting alone and with small groups of trusted friends.

Growing and uncomfortable spaces tend to go together for me and for most of us. There tends to be a challenging situation or a voice of dissent that creates the need for change. Change can be in our thoughts, in our physical spaces, or in our beloved routines or schedules. I can fluctuate between loving and hating change. Like many of my stubborn Scandinavian counterparts, we seem to tolerate change more when it was our idea or when we have a say or some choice in the change. We as a people don’t typically like things done to us or for us but with us. 

I had the honor and privilege to be on the Trailblazers and Changemakers panel for the Women In Leadership Conference at the DECC. This was new territory for me as a young leader and speaker. Some areas of discomfort and growth for me were in the physical world of being in a space with over four hundred and fifty women indoors with my Firefly on. My Firefly is used to being on the open road of paved trails not intricate carpeted spaces or pulling up to tables for me to write notes or eat at. Also being around this many people for an all day event after years of added isolation due to being immunocompromised was an interesting balance. Also speaking from a stage versus through a computer was a welcomed change but also a renewed experience. The interplay of speaker and audience when sharing hard lived stories and finding commonality is a gift beyond words.

Spaces filled with laughter and fun are my favorite, only after deep life-giving conversations. During my retreat we had laugh until you cry moments. Many times the tears were full of joy and happiness and many times the tears were ones that released the pain, struggle, grief, and unknown isolation of leadership. 

As we embark on the new season of late fall and early winter with so many gatherings, festivities and celebrations, I want to invite us to create spaces that are welcoming to all whom we love. Accessibility isn’t just about physical access but there is this sense of belonging. It is hard to put into words but when it is there you know it and when it isn’t you know it even louder.