“It is a time when all the old clarities break down and everything is in flux. Things are up in the air. Nothing is a given anymore, and anything could happen. No one knows the answers: one person says one thing and someone else says something completely different.” (William Bridges)

That description seems to fit the world in the present day. I know I’m in the middle phase of the transition process due to the global pandemic and the changes it has sparked and catalyzed. William Bridges calls this time the Neutral Zone, because “it is a nowhere between two somewheres, and because while you are in it, forward motion seems to stop while you hang suspended between was and will be.” 

As I study transitions, I recognize the Not Knowing Place is part of my transition process. In the past I placed too much emphasis on getting out of the Not Knowing Place. Bridges writes, “when change is deep and far-reaching, this time between the old identity and the new can stretch for months, even years.”

I noticed that time became fluid during the pandemic/Stay at Home order and the boundaries of time (such as self-imposed deadlines and schedules) washed away. Continue reading →