I am feeling the transition from summer to fall … from the freedom of movements and possibility in the summer months to the pulling inward of fall, the preparing for the descent. I think of those who live south of the equator who are experiencing the opposite transition, the beckoning outward toward the new growth of spring.
As a parent, I am also also feeling my offsprings’ transitions through early adulthood, and the awkwardness of finding their own footing. This transition for them is also a transition for me as the way in which we relate changes.
I am also in an age-related transition, which I’m discovering is not consistent movement in a single direction, but more a process that ebbs and flows. Some days I still feel the vitality of my 30’s and other days, I can feel how recovery from exertion takes longer than it used to. I can feel how my priorities are shifting, sometimes different from day to day. This is changing how I relate to the outside world, and how quick (or not) I am to commit myself to activities with others. There are opportunities ahead that excite me, as well as less enticing challenges already making themselves felt.
In all of these, I’m so aware of what transition feels like as a process. It’s not a simple matter of leaving one way of being, taking a few steps, and finding myself at the arrival point of another way of being, as if I were on a bridge. It’s more of a process, a flow that has its own rhythm, its own time table, even its own unpredictability.
I’m remembering a recent fishing trip which involved walking across wet boulders, high above a river. There were gaps, uneven spaces and slippery spots … and there were occasional nearby tree branches I was able to grab for support and balance. There were also moments where I had to just trust my own sense of balance and the grip of my shoes as I moved from one spot to the next.
Transitions are like that. Sometimes they invite me to look around for unexpected bits of support and allow myself to hang onto them. Other times they invite me to trust my own core strength, my inner wisdom. It’s not an either/or situation. It’s about trusting that what I need is there for me, whether it’s internal or external.
Transitions also remind me of my vulnerable humanity. It takes a lot of inner energy to navigate my way through the uncertainty. I am invited to be present to all manner of uncomfortable emotions—grief, anxiety, frustration, and fear, and many others. I am reminded of the gifts that come when I choose to allow myself rest, when I take time to delight in something that gives me joy, when I remember to let myself play.
Whether you’re making your way with me into the dark of the year, or taking steps outward toward the light, what supports invite you to reach out? What helps steady your footing as you encounter the uncertainty of changing seasons, changing life phases, or our changing world?
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