You know that gap when the past has ended but what you want to create next hasn’t arrived?
You’ve set goals or resolutions but wonder how or when you’ll reap the benefits?
Or instead you feel wrapped in the silence of winter, unclear on what’s next?
Or you feel pressure to create “the new” when the renewal of spring hasn’t come yet?
These are sometimes uncomfortable transitions. We want to know what’s going to happen so that we feel safe and a success.
In an interview I watched with Lady Gaga, she said she’d hole herself up in a hotel room and commit all kinds of debauchery, waiting to find her next spark of creative inspiration.
Like most artists, she feared it wouldn’t come. But ultimately it would and then she’d throw herself into her work again.
Obviously, this isn’t the most supportive way to deal with the in-between. But what makes it challenging is that we think there’s something wrong with us for experiencing it in the first place.
As busy, productive members of society, if we don’t feel on point, motivated or as though we’re getting what we want IMMEDIATELY, we think we’re failing.
Artists may fear they just completed their last and best work.
Like when a relationship is over and one worries they may never fall in love again.
But as we know, after the hibernation of winter spring DOES bloom.
So what do we do in times of transition?
THE ANSWER?
Don’t do anything BIG and nurture yourself.
Think of it as an auspicious time to go within, restore and regenerate.
ASK YOURSELF:
- What’s the easiest thing I can do for me, right now?
- What do I enjoy doing that’s gentle, loving, and kind?
- What did my body or spirit need more of while I was absorbed in the busy holiday season/my last project/relationship/interest?
- What if I didn’t HAVE to fill this space with something else?
The best thing for a pregnant woman to do when she’s feeling anxious about the future, or like she can’t get any heavier, is to rest.
Peace is what’s needed now since of course, there’s not going to be much sleep or serenity for a while after she delivers.
As the ebb of life flows, there are sometimes slow moving streams and still pools. And, just like with nature, we can’t force the river.
When I’m in this place, I do grounding, simple things. I allow myself to appreciate and respect the natural unfoldment of my endeavors.
I knit, or do more yoga, or read more books. I meditate. And I trust and know that I’m gestating, building, and preparing INWARDLY for something new.
The goal is not for us to flee from emptiness, but to loosen our grip and relax into the gap.
Like a trapeze artist letting go of one bar and reaching for the next, it’s in this moment of suspension that the new is discovered.
Honor this passage without forcing anything. Allow the beauty of the next to arise according to its own divine timing.
Wishing you a week of simplicity!
