Survival is Not the Same as Freedom

An LCA Contemplation on Unlearning Survival Patterns and Shaping a Life of Our Own

Today, we visit The Pottery. A place to reflect on what is taking shape in our lives and how the process is going.

On the plans we are making, the goals we are working towards, the dreams we hold, and the futures we imagine.
On what freedom, joy, happiness, and success mean to each of us.

As we work towards something that matters to us, questions may come up:

“Is this going well?”
“Am I applying too much pressure?”
“Is there something I need to do differently?”

We can survive difficult seasons in our lives and still carry parts of them with us.

A childhood can shape us. So can a relationship, a workplace, a period of illness or burnout, a loss, or a major transition. While we are getting through something, we find ways to keep going. We may learn to stay quiet, keep the peace, care for everyone around us, or remain alert to what might go wrong. These ways of coping may have offered protection, connection, or a sense of control or belonging when we had few other choices.

There is tenderness in recognising that. We were doing the best we could with what we knew and what was available to us. And even after a difficult season has passed, the ways we learned to move through it may continue to shape how we speak, love, work, rest, and make choices.

Surviving is not the same as being free.

A way of protecting ourselves can stay close even when life has changed. We may respond to the present with feelings and expectations shaped by what we have lived through, following messages that once helped us get by:

“Don’t make a fuss.”
“Keep everyone happy.”
“Stay ready.”
“You are safer when you need less.”

We can meet the parts of us that learned these patterns with gentleness. They were trying to help.
We can also begin to ask whether they still fit the life we want to shape.

When I first imagined The Pottery as part of LCA World, I wondered what made it different from The Shed.
Both seemed to be about building and shaping something.

As I sat with that question, the worship song The Potter’s Hand came back to me. I felt in my spirit that it held a piece of the answer. At the heart of the song is the image of us placing our lives in the hands of God and trusting Him to shape us.

My faith is part of my own story and how I make meaning of my life. I can encourage someone to live in a way that is grounded in their own faith, even if we do not share the same religion.

I came to understand that The Shed and The Pottery hold different, connected parts of a process.

At The Shed, we return to the blueprint. We look at our progress and ask:

“Does something need to change?”
“Is there something we need to add or subtract?”
“Is the foundation strong enough to support what we are building?”

At The Pottery, we are in the process itself. We work with the clay, give form to what we imagined, and pay attention as it takes shape. We might ask:

“Am I applying the right amount of pressure?”
“Does this need more time?”
“Am I happy with the direction this is taking?”
“Do I want to try a different approach?”

Sometimes this brings us back to The Shed to review the blueprint or strengthen the structure.
Then we return to The Pottery and continue. The two places sit close together because shaping something in our lives can involve both tending to the plan and staying present with the work of bringing it to life.

What we shape can be a business, a project, or a goal. It can also be the way we want to live, the relationships we want to nurture, and the boundaries that help us feel more like ourselves. Words like freedom, happiness, and success can feel abstract until we explore what they might look like in our everyday lives.

At The Pottery, what matters is being honest about what we feel and what we hope to shape in our lives.
We may arrive hopeful, uncertain, tired, excited, or afraid. Several things can be true at once.

There is room for that. We can begin with what is true for us, then stay curious about how the process is going and what we might want to adjust.

When we carry an idea or dream into action, we may have a sense of what we hope to create without knowing every step along the way. This can ask for faith: making choices and trusting the process even when we cannot yet see its final form.

Some of us have an entire graveyard of good ideas we left behind before they had a chance to take shape.
Sometimes, the challenge is not finding something to dream about; it is staying focused and devoted to one idea long enough to carry it forward.

The Pottery invites us to practise that devotion: to return our attention to what we chose to shape, stay present with the work, and take the next step. Devotion does not mean following the original plan no matter what. It means adjusting when needed and giving what still matters the time and care to grow.

Shaping is not the same as fixing. We are not a problem to solve. We can honour the ways we learned to survive while exploring choices that make more room for the lives we want to live.

At LCA, we believe in the power of choice. In autonomy. In freedom.

Feeling free is an emotional construct. Being free is something we embody. At The Pottery, we give ourselves the opportunity to explore what freedom looks like for each of us and work towards embodying it in our lives.

We do not have to know the final shape today. Some things take shape slowly, under attentive hands.

What are you shaping right now?