Transitions

Transitions are often a time of confusion, fear, and disorientation.  Anything that leads to major life changes requires a redefining of our core self: embarking on a new marriage, ending a marriage; becoming a new parent, children  leaving home to embark on their adult journey; beginning a new career, ending a career (willingly or unwilling), a promotion; emerging from childhood into adolescence, each time we enter into a new life-cycle; a newly diagnosed long-term health problem or physical disability; death of a loved one.  These are but a few of examples of transitions that each of us face throughout our lifetime. We often ask, "Who am I now?" "What's my next step?" "Is there a next step?" "Will I be successful?"  "Will I be a failure?"  Fear is often our constant companion. At times we can be plunged into despair and other times filled with the elation of having the freedom to explore and try on new roles.
In earlier times, transitions were viewed as a time of sacredness with rituals designed to assist tribal members to integrate into their new forms. These rituals were part of the fabric of tribal life. 
Today we can see vestiges of these rituals in funeral, wedding celebrations, Bar Mitzvahs, Shiva to name just a few. However, in our fast pace world we often demand of ourselves that we "just get over it."  We try to force ourselves to keep going. And we wonder where our joy in life has gone.  Honouring each stage of transitional periods in our lives is just as important today as it was in earlier times.  Each stage - endings, betwixt and between, and reconnection - has it's own demands and rhythms.  Learning the rhythms and letting go into them allows for a new, healthy and nourishing reconnection into life.