#wiggleroom

Miz Megs - Live @ Change The Beat - Wiggle Room Toronto - 2025-11-28

Live set from the Change the Beat Fundraiser at Wiggle Room in Toronto on November 28th 2025 . 3am - 4am set time.

DJs: K-VIII, Miz Megs, Natalie Nox, Shera, Sonic Griot, Sydney Blu & Videri

We're raising funds and celebrating SYDNEY BLU's birthday at Wiggle Room Toronto on Friday, Nov 28!

This isn’t just a party — it’s a statement. Every dollar from the door and merch goes directly toward funding our remix contests, artist showcases, and educational programs that create real opportunities in the scene. ________________________________________________________________

While meditating on wiggle room, I realize that many of the changes, human beings try to implement, might be rather technical changes. Meaning: here’s the problem – let’s fix it!

In “A Failure of nerve: Leadership in times of the quick Fix.”, Edwin Friedman*) describes, what the supposed need for quick fixes does to us – what it does to leadership and community. Friedman states, that being a non anxious leader comes down to self-differentiation. This being a core value for fruitful leadership. And while this is not a condition, one is born with, or wakes op with one fine day, this is mainly a direction in which non anxious leadership steers. Maintaining Self-Differentiation amongst poorly self-differentiated humans though, does demand a lot of strength! Strength that eventually might be missing, when it comes to creative and joyful ways of being church.

On the other hand, I also realize, that my search for stakeholders in the congregation, I am currently serving, apparently has been in vain. Might well be, that possible stakeholders are just holding in their breath, in order to find out, where this is leading to… However, how can we see, where this is leading us, when we don’t start? It seems, that people want or expect me (as their pastor), to be directive – which I have basically been refusing to do, for 5 years now… Why? Because it is not primarily my work that counts, it’s about the work of the congregation. The fact, that we are only seeing minor progress is – in my opinion – only slightly related with the experience of the pandemic (and the war on European territory).

Wiggle room then happens within liminal space**). Liminality being understood as the psychological process of transitioning across boundaries and borders. One can say: Liminality happens on the threshold. Anthropologist Victor Turner describes liminality in the light of Rites de Passage ***). On the other side of the threshold, something different might take place.

Whereas a physical threshold might be rather small. One might stand on the threshold for quite a while, but then one will go over the threshold and move into the next room. Eventually of course,  one might turn around and go back into the former room. But then, what did we win? Furthermore, standing on the threshold – may it be physical or virtual – does change us! We are not the same anymore, compared to how we where when we first stepped onto the threshold. Having come to this conclusion, we might give the question, “Where do we take it from here?” some serious thought!

And in the light of this, it would seem to me, that  a conscious decision in favor of wiggle room is more the a valid option, as it bears, the chance of creating altogether an enthusiast culture. This – of course – is, what people have been hoping for, for so long!  And as Tveitereit and Norheim are stating, “The enthusiast culture is never coercive. It is always voluntarily construed.”****) – let the wiggle room come – lykke til!

*) Edwin Friedman: “A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in Times of the quick Fix.”, Seabury Books, 2007. Also:  https://www.google.com/search?q=friedman%27s+theory+selfdifferentiation&client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=AJOqlzUXPbo2QaCZQPYVIEtfhiIs5p8rfA%3A1679306283972&ei=Ky4YZM_zOq6Mi-gPn4GcyAM&ved=0ahUKEwiPtZm0n-r9AhUuxgIHHZ8ABzkQ4dUDCA4&uact=5&oq=friedman%27s+theory+selfdifferentiation&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQAzIHCCEQoAEQCjIHCCEQoAEQCjoKCAAQRxDWBBCwAzoHCAAQgAQQEzoICAAQFhAeEBM6BggAEBYQHjoFCCEQoAE6BAghEBVKBAhBGABQkxNY801g8VZoAXABeACAAbkBiAH1FJIBBDAuMjCYAQCgAQHIAQjAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:8695a5e1,vid:RgdcljNV-Ew

**) cfr. Tveidereit and Norheim, Theological Wiggle Room as a Resource in Ordinary Theology.

***) Victor Turner, e.g. Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage. In: Symposium on New Approaches to the Study of Religion, hg. v. Melford E. Spiro; Seattle, American Ethnological Society.

Given the manyfold changes in society and church structure, there seems to be a need for a space to gain insights, which might eventually lead to changes based on good experience – meaning, we need a neutral Zone as part of the transition time.

While trying to define, what I mean with "congregation" and "healthy" as in "congregational health" and talking this thru with members of MF, the keyword "wiggle room" popped up and made my heart and mind rejoice, since I immediately recognized the manyfold possibilities lying in there.

According to Knut Tveidereit (MF, Oslo) and Bård Norheim (NLA, Bergen), “The notion or metaphor “wiggle room” connects well with the idea of adaptive change, which describes challenges that require adaptive leadership.” *)

I immediately liked the terminology. “Wiggle room”, then it seems to allow playfulness as well as serious consideration – full of opportunities to learn.

In  Transition Ministry, we do work with a neutral zone within the transition time. However, the serious task at hand might eventually lead to outmaneuvering ideas and playfulness and sometimes rather lead to tunnel vision – as opposed to foresight.

Quite a bit of the necessary changes will be adaptive challenges. As Ronald Heifetz states,an adaptive challenge “is to be distinguished from a technical challenge, in that the adaptive challenge is characterized by a problem definition that requires learning and a solution that requires learning.” (Heifetz et al. **). Whereas technical changes primarily demand authority, adaptive changes need stakeholders, who stand for the problem and are willing to do the necessary learning, in order to come to workable solutions, or new ways of doing things.

In my training as a congregational consultant, we considered consulting and the arena in which change can come into being as “Im Dazwischen” – in between. Seen the amount of books (on different topics). bearing “Im Dazwischen”  in the title, the creative space indicated in that wording, seems to have gained a foothold in many life contexts.

More then 15 years later, we still are about to discover the manyfold opportunities lying in the “Im Dazwischen”.

The work of the adaptive leader then has a lot to do with making “in between times” possible, so that change can come into being.

So it seems that, in order to give rise to fruitful changes to come about, we need, stakeholders, adaptive leaders and a notion of wiggle room. (To be continued)

*) in Knut Tveitereid* and Bård Norheim Theological Wiggle Room as a Resource in Ordinary Theology: Significance for Ecclesiology, Leadership, and Personal Development, in Knut Tveitereid* and Bård Norheim (https://doi.org/10.1515/ijpt-2020-0033 )

At long last...some #wiggle room!!!

HAPPY HUMP DAY, LIKERS!!! How is your week going so far? Lord...how my characters have been on my mind. Writing has been on my mind.

I've been wanting to finish this #latest chapter on HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES. It was proving to be a doozy, but I was excited. Outside of Shaun's friendship with #diva Eugene, he had a competitive friendship with Trey. I felt that Eugene and Shaun were developed. Now it was time to dive into Shaun and Trey. And nothing like a juicy #secret to bring that history into play.

  Meanwhile, I finally get to do something else that's been on my mind...EDITING. I had managed to get back to CROSSOVER, my #forthcoming YA sci-fi novel. Now if I could push out that time.

  I have also been wanting to do something for the month of #March or April. But what? Hmmmm...