Because of a variety of challenges that had been taking place for me personally, I found myself in that scary but familiar place of transition – the place you are in when an ending of some kind has occurred, but the new beginning has not yet fallen into place. Transition, as William Bridges explains so well in his book, Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes, is a place of confusion and, sometimes, distress. It can be a painful and scary place because what is known and familiar no longer exists and what is coming is not yet visible. Often, it feels like we are stuck in place. The more we try to make things happen, the more stuck we end up feeling.
Each time I am in this place I have to remind myself that, confusing and uncomfortable as being in transition is, it is holds the potential for enormous creativity, innovation and new beginnings. In one of my earliest postings, I wrote a series on Change, Transition and Transformation and what has helped me see change as an opportunity for growth and learning. Here, I want to focus on seeing transition as a time to allow the fields of our emotions, thoughts and spirit to lay fallow. If we can see times of transition as times that are meant for us to allow let things unfold naturally, times of transition can turn into time to allow your creative juices to build and enable ideas to simmer until they are ready.
We need to trust in our own inner wisdom instead of trying to find answers externally that can only come from within. And, to do that, we need to be still and have faith. As Dr. Carl Jung wrote, When you are up against a wall, be still and put down roots like a tree, until clarity comes from deeper sources to see over that wall. When you allow the clarity to come naturally from within, you will be amazed at the new horizons you will be able to see.
Similarly, we need to follow the advice of Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu who wrote, Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?
So, be still, allow your roots to grow and the mud to settle.
Thanks for these reassuring words of wisdom, especially during these emotionally turbulent times.
George,
What a delight to hear from you. It’s been ages.
Wonderful and inspiring! Thank you, Deb! xoxox
xoxo back to you Toni!
–adjective
1.
(of land) plowed and left unseeded for a season or more; uncultivated.
2.
not in use; inactive: My creative energies have lain fallow this year.
Fallow feels erotic and I guess in some ways it is – it is that feeling of anticipation of something great. I dig it and of course will begin to observe the presence of fallowness everywhere, now. Totally dope!
Also, I had no idea Carl Jung was so poetic. I side with him on expectations for sure and now will keep my eyes open for poetic nuggets from him to share. Thank you for living out loud!
Nice to hear from you, Summer.
Hi Deb,
So insightful this piece. Certainly applicable during this period of household transition.
thanks,
Renay
Hey Renaye,
Nice to hear from you. I hope things have been settling down for you.
Deb
This post came at the perfect time in my life and was exactly what I needed to read on the day I needed to read it. Thank you so much for sharing it.
James,
Thank you for the feedback. I am glad you found the post beneficial.
Deb
Splendid. Something I needed right now.
thanks.. that helped
Glad to hear that Greg.
All the best,
Deb
Thank you so much for this post. I’ve been feeling ‘stuck’ for so long now and despite doing much “work” on myself (so funny that ridiculous notion that we need to work on ourselves) I’ve felt stuck. Sitting still such a tall order in our ‘doing’ obsessed society.
I always get a message to be still but I fight it – thank you for giving me renewing clarity. Loved the post.
Lisa,
Lovely to hear from you. I face the same challenge of thinking everything needs to be “worked on.” Isn’t it a relief to realize that sometimes all we need to do is be?