There's a certain kind of faithfulness in ourselves and in one another that is required if we are to address both the joys and the real difficulties of our lives. It's something beyond mere appreciation or even love, but a kind of fierce commitment to the sacredness of being a human. It allows us to be loving, to be tender, to say what's true, to recognise what is, to name suffering, to call on one another's capacities to respond. It requires us neither to diminish (ourselves or others) nor to inflate (others or ourselves), but to relate to one another with actual hope. It's a faithful attending to the aliveness and sheer awe-inspiring unlikeliness of being here that allows us to meet life and one another with deep respect and deep care. And it's embodied beautifully by our source, which in this episode comes from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.

In our conversation we talk specifically about the Thirdspace Professional Coaching Course, which next begins July 2026. You can hear all our other conversations about this programme at www.turningtowards.life/coaching

This week's Turning Towards Life is hosted as always by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

Episode Overview
00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Turning Towards Life
02:42 Exploring the Poem: 'In Case You Don't Know Already'
05:52 The Significance of Self-Recognition
08:52 The Power of Faith and Luminosity
11:41 Navigating Shadows and Clouds
14:44 The Role of Connection and Tethering
17:44 Faith in the Face of Darkness
20:48 The Depth of Human Experience
23:52 Faithfulness in Relationships
27:01 Conclusion and Reflection

This is Turning Towards Life, a weekly live 30 minute conversation hosted by Thirdspace in which Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn dive deep into big questions of human living. Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast in all the usual podcast places.

Here's our source for this week:

In Case You Don't Know Already

One day you will wake
and discover you are a sun,
radiant, fueled by your own core,
capable of luminosity so great
you blaze through lightyears of darkness.
You will know your own power
and it will never occur to you
not to trust it, not to share it.
You will not be able to forget
your own magnitude.
Nor will such glory be a burden.
You will simply shine
because that is who you are.
No need to apologize.
No reason to be jealous
of any other sun,
of any other star.
On that day,
you will see how it is
you have always been a sun,
even in the darkest days.
Then, you were also the clouds
and the great shadow
that made you stop
believing in your light.
You are, in fact,
what makes the day itself—
you are that integral,
that crucial,
that bright.

Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
www.wordwoman.com

Photo by Braňo on Unsplash

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Join Us Live in 2026

Foundations of Coaching, Feb 9-10 2026, Online
Our two day introduction to the deep and wonderful way of working with people that we call 'Integral Development Coaching'.
www.wearethirdspace.org/foundations-of-coaching

Professional Coaching Course, begins July 2-5 2026, Online
Our year long programme, an opportunity to learn to support others in deep, life giving discovery and development.

You can hear us talk about the programme here:
www.turningtowards.life/coaching

And you can read more about it here:
www.wearethirdspace.org/professional-coaching-course

Turning Towards Life Live Season 2, from March 2026
Our Turning Towards Life live programme of community, learning and reflection runs in six month seasons, in person on Zoom once a month. We're very excited about it. A chance to expand beyond the bounds of a podcast into forming a community of learning and practice.
You can find out more and join us here: www.turningtowards.life/live

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About Turning Towards Life
Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace. Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify.

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