June Liberation Lesson w/ Leah Tioxon
Season of Expansion: The Honest Check-In
At the beginning of June, I asked you (and myself) a question:
How do I grow without abandoning myself?
In the article, I wrote about expansion.
I wrote about capacity. About discernment. About boundaries. About growing without abandoning myself.
Season of Expansion: Growing Without Abandoning Ourselves
There is something beautiful about watching a dream come to life.
Looking back, I realize I may have answered that question more honestly than I intended.
Some of you may have noticed I got quieter.
Not because the vision disappeared.
Not because the work stopped.
Not because I burned out.
But because expansion doesn’t always look like adding more.
Sometimes expansion looks like turning one eye on the stove to low so you can tend another pot.
Sometimes it looks like shifting your attention toward what requires care.
Sometimes it looks like trusting that everything doesn’t need to boil at once.
And sometimes it looks like honoring the capacity you actually have instead of the capacity you wish you had.
At the time, I thought I was writing about expansion.
Now that the month is ending, I realize I was actually writing about discernment.
Like many people, I was taught that growth meant addition.
Add another project.
Add another responsibility.
Add another offering.
Add another goal.
Add another thing to carry.
The problem is that eventually there is no room left for you.
What I have learned this month is that expansion is not always about adding.
Sometimes expansion is about removing what keeps you from hearing yourself.
This month required me to become honest about capacity.
Not the capacity I wish I had.
Not the capacity I think I should have.
Not the capacity that supremacy culture rewards.
My actual capacity.
As someone living with chronic pain and dynamic disability, this lesson arrives repeatedly.
Some days I can build.
Some days I can create.
Some days I can teach.
Some days my work is simply staying in relationship with myself instead of declaring war on my body.
That is not failure.
That is discernment.
I also noticed something else.
Many of us have been taught to confuse expansion with access.
We think every opportunity deserves a yes.
Every invitation deserves our time.
Every need deserves our attention.
Every relationship deserves continued access to us.
But expansion without boundaries becomes self-abandonment.
This month I found myself returning to a truth I have had to learn again and again:
Not everything that grows deserves more of me.
Some things need pruning.
Some things need structure.
Some things need limits.
And some things need to end.
The most expansive thing I have done lately is protect my peace without apology.
The most expansive thing I have done lately is choose sustainability over urgency.
The most expansive thing I have done lately is stop measuring success by how much I can carry.
Because one of the pillars I continue to dismantle is Progress Is Bigger/More.
We are taught that if something is working, it should always become larger.
But nature doesn’t work that way.
Growth happens in seasons.
Expansion is followed by integration.
Movement is followed by rest.
Creation is followed by tending.
The question is no longer:
How do I grow?
The question has become:
How do I stay connected to myself while I grow?
That is the lesson I am carrying into the next season.
Not more.
More honest.
Not bigger.
More aligned.
Not faster.
More sustainable.
And maybe that is what expansion was trying to teach me all along.
If you’re a paid subscriber, the reflection continues below.
This month’s Liberation Lesson, in partnership with Leah Tioxon arrived at exactly the right moment. While it is typically shared at the beginning of the month, some lessons reveal their wisdom more clearly when we can look back and trace the path we’ve already walked.
Below, I’m unpacking June through the LIBERATE framework and exploring what this season taught me about capacity, discernment, foundations, and sustainable growth.
If you’ve ever wondered how to honor your actual capacity while still moving toward the life you’re building, this part is for you.
Thank you for helping make this work possible. Your support creates space for these reflections, the Academy, the Homestead, and the continued practice of liberation in community.
Upgrade to continue reading.
Liberation Education Subscription Options
Free Subscriber
Access to selected essays, community updates, and occasional public resources.
Paid Subscriber — $10/month or $100/year
Full access to every Liberation Education article, archives, Practice Your Praxis guides, and subscriber-only reflections.
Equity Partner — $150/year
Help expand equitable access while supporting the continued development of Liberation Education, The Liberation Method™, and community-based learning resources.
Scholarship Access
Because liberation should never be reserved for those with financial privilege.
