I recently had the privilege of being in conversation with NAFSA - Association of International Educators on one of my favorite topics: Transition. I’ve shared the links to the podcast and article below. I also thought I’d take a moment to share a few highlights of themes that surfaced during the interview and seemed worthing of compiling here for easy reference - enjoy!
Something Physical To Ground You
What’s your way of coming back to yourself - of being present and grounded? Sometimes it’s helpful to have something physical to help you get to that place. Maybe it’s a glass of cold water, lighting a candle or having a flower or piece of artwork to look at. Particularly in times of stress and anxiety having something physical that helps you connect to yourself daily even if just for 2 minutes can be useful.
Opportunity to re-Imagine
Change and transition come with opportunity to reflect and re-imagine. What are the changes happening in our world right now asking me personally to examine and prioritize? What do I want to re-imagine for my own life, community and world?
Action & Fear
“When fear has you stuck, find one small step forward, whatever that is for you that day. Because action is a very good antidote to fear.”
Clarify Values
Times of change present opportunity to reflect on personal values and what brings meaning and purpose to you. I also encourage us to take context into consideration as we do this. What might the world and changes in our environment be asking us to honor and value in new ways? Take inventory, what’s most important now? This worksheet is a nice place to start if you’re looking to spend some time clarifying your values.
Expect The Neutral Zone
Transition according to William Bridges is structured as an ending, then a neutral zone, and then a beginning. Once we know there’s a neutral zone, we can be a little bit more conscious about it. How do I want to relate to it? What questions do I want to be asking myself right now?
Remember that it’s normal and part of the process when in the neutral zone to experience things like confusion, apathy, disorientation, frustration, moments of complete inspiration, moments of “maybe this is possible.” We can also remember that usually the neutral zone isn’t particularly comfortable and most of us would like to skip right over it and get to our shiny new beginning, but it’s part of the process and part of life and has much to offer when we accept it and are available to what it might want to teach us.
The Collective Neutral Zone
I’d say one way to look at this moment in history is to say we’re smack dab in the middle of a collective neutral zone experience. There’s opportunity for growth and transformation not only as individuals, but also systemically. We have a big opportunity to rethink some things as a society. What can we learn together in this neutral zone by asking together: What do we want to see in the future and what kind of personal change are we willing to make in creating equity in the world?
“Sometimes the bigger the external change, the more time we need in that neutral zone. There is an opportunity to stay in that neutral zone, individually and together, and ask a lot of questions that maybe we haven’t been asking before.”
Listen Deeply In The Neutral Zone
The neutral zone in many ways is all about asking questions for which we don’t yet have the answers. May we not miss the opportunity to ask them, to think, to learn. There is an opportunity to listen quite deeply in the neutral zone to ourselves and others. As a white woman, I have an opportunity to listen and learn more deeply and follow the leadership of BIPOC brothers and sisters who have been imagining a new way forward for generations.
Ritual
What ritual could you create that would give you the ability to reroute and be present to what is right now? What ritual could you create for yourself, your family, or communities you are part of to mark this moment in time and make space for what’s next? What could a ritual help you let go of? Or step into?
Sometimes we let go of things because they no longer serve us and sometimes we let go of things that are or were really good and that we learned a lot from but have come to an end. Sometimes we get to choose the end and other times we don’t. Ritual is a way to say, I learned from this, I loved this (or I’m glad it’s over or I wasn’t ready for it to end) AND I want to honor it so that it gives me space to be creative and step into whats next and what this season is asking of me.
Here’s to seizing the opportunity of transitions and neutral zones and the growth and possibility they hold.
Listen in on the full conversation here:
Or have a read HERE.