Transitions are occurring everywhere, all the time. Across the Universe a star is likely being born, while another has likely just died. As I type these words, I can imagine the very beginnings of life forming on a planet lightyears away. On our own planet, life is coming into existence in every moment and expiring in every moment. We are witness to one big flow of endings and beginnings—a magnificent, natural rhythm. How might acknowledging the rhythm of transition in ourselves and in the wild cosmos expand our capacity to guide others on the learning journey?

Awareness of the shared energy of transitions in my own life and all of existence is a gift of grace and elegant beauty. The cosmic perspective, when consciously held, fortifies me through difficult transitions. I am experiencing what the universe is experiencing, because I am intimately bound to it.

Transitions are Emotional

Our emotions are intensified during transitions. We can feel the whole range, from great loss to ecstatic joy. I remember when my first child was born. As I held her for the first time, an image of a deep, dark well appeared suddenly in my mind’s eye. This was the well that contained all my potential feelings. I watched as the bottom of the well dropped out completely, and I understood that now I had the capacity to experience the most joy ever known and the most sorrow ever known. Nature’s extremes can jolt us, and opening in a vulnerable way to such extremes brings us directly in touch with our essential selves (our souls, God, spirit, love).

Endings and Beginnings

What prevents us from moving gracefully through our transition-full life? I, for one, am working to surrender to life’s natural rhythms, especially the endings. I gain strength and courage as I allow myself to dance with the wild—flow with the river of life—resisting less and less. It is a practice I doubt I will perfect. That is why it is called “practice”.

Let It End

“To become something else, you have to stop being what you are now; to start doing things a new way, you have to end the way you are doing them now; and to develop a new attitude or outlook, you have to let go of the old one you have now. Even though it sounds backwards, endings always come first. The first task is to let go.”

~William Bridges, Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes

Sarah Denae, TIES 2018 Graduate

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