There are times in our lives when we feel, or we know, that we are between things, when we have left one thing behind but have not yet gotten to the new thing or place we are moving toward. This time of limbo is known in traditional rites of passage as a liminal period, the beginning of a process taking us from one boundary to another but we are really not at either one. We have left one behind and have not yet gotten to the other. We are more at the threshold of where we are headed, but not really there yet. This is a time of ambiguity, uncomfortableness, and disorientation because we no longer hold our previous status and we do not yet know exactly what our new status will be like. We may feel like we’re on the verge of something new and important, but we can’t yet truly taste it. This could also be thought of as the time between unconsciousness and consciousness. It is a turning point before the corner has been turned.
Reflect on a turning point in your life when you knew were between things, kind of like being on a stairwell or an elevator between floors. You knew you weren’t on the previous floor anymore and you also knew you weren’t yet on the next floor you were going to. What was it that you had left behind? What was it really like for you to know, and to be conscious of, the reality that you weren’t yet where you knew you were going? What changed, what was it like when you passed beyond that threshold and knew you had arrived where you had been going? Contemplate this time in your life as deeply as you can, look for identifying or defining feelings of each of the three phases of this process – before, during, and after – and tell this story in as clear and concise way you think gives it its greatest meaning for you, a style that is comfortable to you, and that includes what you learned from this experience.
