Step Through Your Doorway

A creative wellbeing exercise to reflect on your next chapter

Sometimes, we know we’re ready for something new before we can even put it into words.
A quiet restlessness, a tug at the heart, a feeling that it’s time to begin . . . again.

In many traditions and stories, the doorway has long symbolised a threshold: a space between what has been and what is yet to come. Crossing a threshold can be exciting, but it can also feel scary as uncertainty can creep in. There’s beauty in pausing at that doorway, taking a breath, and honouring the journey that’s brought you here.

Today, I want to share a creative wellbeing exercise that I often turn to: The Doorway.

It’s a simple exercise, but it holds surprising depth.

Why the Doorway?

Doorways have deep roots in myth, ritual and storytelling. In ancient cultures, doorways and thresholds were seen as sacred spaces - moments of transition that needed to be marked, blessed or noticed. In stories, the hero often crosses a threshold when they leave the ordinary world and enter the unknown, beginning a new adventure.

In real life, we cross thresholds too:

• When we start writing a book

• When we leave behind an old story about who we are

• When we step toward a new dream, a new career, a new relationship, a new direction - even though it feels scary.

Honouring the threshold reminds us that change isn’t something we need to rush through. It’s something we can meet with reflection and excitement.

As poet and philosopher John O’Donohue said:

"A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms and atmospheres."

It’s a moment of possibility.

How to Create Your Doorway

You don't need anything fancy - just a piece of paper and a few quiet minutes.

• Draw a doorway. (A rectangle will do!)

• Inside the doorway, write or draw what you are stepping toward.

  • Think dreams, feelings and experiences you are ready to welcome.

• Around the outside of the doorway, write or draw what you are stepping away from.

  • Old doubts, fears and patterns you are ready to leave behind.

🌿 Stepping Toward: Creativity, Confidence, Self-trust, Adventure, Playfulness, Purpose
🌿 Stepping Away From: Self-doubt, Perfectionism, Fear of being seen, Procrastination, Overthinking

There’s no right or wrong way to do it. Messy is perfect. Honest is perfect.

Taking It Deeper: Questions To Reflect On

Once you’ve created your doorway, you might want to spend a little time reflecting:

• What does it feel like to imagine stepping through this doorway?

• What fears come up? What hopes?

• What one small act could you take this week to move gently toward what you want?

Sometimes it helps to write a small note to yourself, as if you are standing on the threshold, speaking kindly to the person you are becoming.

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When we work on a creative project, like writing a book or growing a business, we often find ourselves standing at new thresholds again and again. Every time we dare to write a messy first draft, share a new idea or trust our own voice, we cross another doorway.

Creative wellbeing isn’t just about output. It’s about noticing where we are in the journey. It’s about allowing ourselves to honour the moments when things feel tender, uncertain or beautifully in between.

This doorway exercise helps because it:

• Brings unconscious shifts into conscious awareness

• Provides a gentle structure for reflection

• Reconnects you with your deeper "why" before you push forward

• Allows you to mark your growth, even when you can't see the full picture yet

In short, it reminds you that you are already moving forward, even if your steps feel small or invisible.

You don't need to force anything. You don’t need to have a five-year plan mapped out. You are allowed to stand at the doorway, breathe and listen.

One day, without even realising it, you’ll find you’ve already crossed the threshold. You’ll realise that growth happened while you were busy being human: messy, brave, scared and hopeful.

Final Thoughts: Your Invitation

If today feels like a moment of change, or if you simply feel ready to reconnect with yourself, draw your doorway. Let it be a small act of creative self-care. Let it be a reminder that you are always becoming.

If you’d like, you can even keep your doorway somewhere you’ll see it often — tucked into a journal, pinned to a vision board, or folded into a book you love.

And if you’d like to share your reflections, I’d be honoured to hear them. You can email me at [email protected] I'd love to hear about it.

Here’s to every brave, tender step you take. I'm here, cheering you on 🌿