What’s in a Name?
Today, a more personal take …
Luminal was founded almost two years ago - oddly, at one of the darkest points of my (Paige’s) life. I had left my full-time job and moved my family from our gorgeous forever home in Rhode Island on the bay to Western New York, right in the middle of the snow belt. Neither decision was made by choice. Both of my parents had unexpectedly and rapidly lost their mobility. They couldn’t live alone in their large two-story house, and we didn’t have room for them in Rhode Island. We had to act quickly and ruthlessly.
Within a month, we sold that gorgeous forever home and traveled to Western New York in a spring that still felt like winter. (Literally: it was snowing, while back in Rhode Island, tulips, daffodils, and dogwoods were in bloom.) We aggressively searched for a house that could accommodate our expanding family of six.
Suddenly, I found myself rudderless - without a job (which had always been a huge part of my identity), caring for two elderly parents and two toddlers in a place where I knew no one. It was… brutal.
At the time, I had some contract work and was exploring what I wanted to do next, but I was stuck. Stuck in that liminal space, between a past that was clearly over and a future that had yet to begin. Life was a blank slate, but one with limitations, rules, bills, illness and fear. It was overwhelming.
Knowing I had no choice but to keep getting out of bed each day, I started therapy. I worked with a coach. I sought out learning opportunities to help me explore myself. For a long time, none of it helped. And then – suddenly - it started to.
One thing that brought me joy during this time of grief and uncertainty was discovering parts of myself I had never had time for before. Apparently, I’m a pretty good gardener - I grew peppers, squash, herbs, and tomatoes, eating them fresh off the vine. I’ve been a reader my whole life but had stopped when my children were born. I picked up the hobby again with a new voraciousness, reading 30 books that first year, 70 the next. I explored Western New York’s nature with my husband and kids and found that I don’t hate being outside (at least in spring, summer and fall).
Life was still messy, confusing and hard. But I was starting to feel…luminous. Lit up from within in a way I hadn’t before. I began looking forward to what was to come rather than just mourning what I had lost. And as that shift happened, I found myself attracting more clients, specifically people doing values-based work that felt deeply important. Many of them were also stuck in that liminal space, and I felt more equipped than ever to help them navigate it.
Somewhere in this messy middle, Luminal Development was born - a portmanteau of liminal and luminous. I founded Luminal because I knew what it felt like to be in the in-between, and I knew, finally, how to support individuals and organizations through it. I had become someone who could help people find the light at the end of the tunnel.
I’m thrilled with Luminal Development’s new logo, designed by the talented Karli Altheer from Greenhaus Branding. With its bright, simple light, it embodies what our organization stands for and why we are here.
And we are here.
We (I), hope you will join us if this resonates.
