We reach points in the work, in change, in the therapeutic relationship where we are between different states. Transitions are natural but they are rarely comfortable.
There’s often an urge to pull back to the status quo, or push for the next stage. It might come with an impulsive urgency or undirected restlessness, or perhaps a relentless creeping toward one or the other, the need to be somewhere rather than nowhere.
We can get curious about the nature of transition when we are in more pragmatic versions like the airport departure lounge, a confined space of enforced waiting. There’s no retreat, no moving forward, until the airport’s universe allows it. So we find a way work with it, whether willingly or reluctantly, to move within its boundaries.
Learning to sit with the discomfort of betweens is a subtly profound freedom, yet one we may need to learn many times over. We can practice being patient. We can cultivate our capacity slow down and pay attention. We can build our stamina to stay just a little longer than before. And we can learn from the smaller versions that come our way.
Helen Mentha 