Up: [[Life]] In my work life I had to spend a lot of time on organizational change. That was interesting, but my real passion is for individual, personal change, and especially the challenging and exhilarating time of being in between the old and the new. The first word for this in-between time was [[Liminal]], coined in 1909 in connection with [[Rites of Passage]]. Fast forward to the 1990s and early 2000s and we have [[William Bridges]] who called that in-between time ‘the neutral zone’ and named the entire three part structure a ‘transition’. Transitions are rites of passage minus the ritual and often the spirituality. The stages of transition are “ending, neutral zone, beginning”. I see it as essentially the same song in different words. I use van Gennep’s term ‘liminal’ to describe the in-between state and, because [[We No Longer Have Rituals to Help Us in Liminal States]], I use Bridges’ transition model to understand modern day individual and organizational change. So what triggers liminality now? Think of those quizzes you can take that assess your stress level by the major events that have recently happened in your life. They don’t have to be negative like a serious illness, the death of a parent, a divorce. They could be positive, such as the birth of a child or a promotion at work. What matters is that they are experienced as significant, taking you from who you used to be, through a stage of some chaos and uncertainty, into a new way of being. Bridges suggests that there are five categories of [[Endings that Commonly Take People into Transition]]. Willingness to embrace liminality, or any aspect of a transition, varies with the individual and the circumstance. See [[Keywords to Describe Experiences of Liminality]]. Personally, I love the whole transition process. I’ll take a new beginning every chance I get, whether that’s a change of seasons, my birthday, the first Monday of a month, the beginning of a day…. I especially love the liminal stage, which is central to Jungian psychology and the process of [[Individuation]] The danger I have to watch for is staying in the liminal state too long, which is why I am so focused on building a PKM that supports me in taking meaningful action. Lots of us struggle with one or more aspects of transition. Why? The first thing to do is to understand [[The Difference Between Change and Transition]], then to look at [[Why We Struggle with Transition]]. The reasons make a lot of sense. Our brains have evolved to protect us from unknown risks. We really like predictability, structure, certainty and control. Transition is all of the uns — uncertainty, unpredictable, uncontrolled, unknown. So what can we do? Quite a lot. ### How to Handle the In-Between Times - This poem by [[David Whyte]] is one of my favourites, [Start Close In](https://debreen.com/2023/01/02/start-close-in-by-david-whyte/) It reminds me to focus on this moment, not the past or the future. - Related to David’s poem, keep other areas of life stable and make the transition in just one area. - We can read [[Quotes - Change]] and [[Quotes - Liminality]] and freewrite in response to them. - We can deliberately put ourselves in a [[Liminal Space]] so that our environment matches our inner work. In addition to the ones in this note, I see retreat spaces as liminal. And of course there’s the [[Temenos]] of Jungian analysis. - We can create [[Rituals]] for the times we are going to do inner work. Early morning before anyone else is awake is often a good time, or the middle of the night if you’re a night owl, and it has the added benefit of being a natural liminal space. During those times we might want to freewrite, especially to explore our fears. Writing makes them more manageable. See [[Writing About Your Life Helps You...]] - We can ask [[Questions to Overcome Fear of Failure]]. They’d be worth exploring in writing. - Engage [[Curiosity]]. This invites wonder instead of fear. Imagine that whatever is going on is meaningful. If you’re into it, pull some tarot cards and dig a little deeper. Here’s how I did it that made me realize [[I've Misunderstood Risk]]. Tarot cards that are recognized as liminal include: [[12 - Hanged Man]], [[16 - Tower]], [[13 - Death]], and [[3 of Wands]]. - Language affects perception. Be careful of referring to every liminal situation as stressful or a crisis. Here’s an argument that even [[Midlife is a Developmental Transition, Not a Crisis]] When the in-between times are over and a new beginning is made, identify the [[Vital Behaviours]] that are going to make the difference in helping you develop strong forward motion.