On transitions (with audio)

& the creative opportunities that live in times of change

Our lives are always in transition. It’s just a matter of pacing.

Lately, I’ve noticed a lot of friends and family going through transitions at what seems an accelerated pace (sudden loss, sudden gain, big moves, realizations, etc…).

In my own life, new and amazing (and even intimidating) opportunities are arriving and older patterns are falling away. Some relationships are beginning to fade, while others are joyously deepening.

There is a richness but also an unsettling feeling to major transitions, and I have always believed that times like this offer particularly unique opportunities to kindle the honest artistic voice.

I’m the first to admit, however, that major life shifts are not comfortable. They can feel lonely or enthralling, depending on the way we converse with the world.

According to David Whyte, these are the times we begin the conversation with ourselves. The full poem extracted here is one to savor because it speaks to feelings of connection in a truly unique manner.

Start with

the ground

you know,

the pale ground

beneath your feet,

your own

way of starting

the conversation.

—David Whyte, “Start Close In”

Transitions are a time of heightened emotion and awareness. So, what better time to go return to the personal conversation?

I find the idea of coming back to the discourse we have with ourselves as artists and people a beautiful way of better distinguishing what thoughts and truths are our own, and what we’ve adopted from the noise around us.

To me, competition and qualification are never personal truths. Especially artistic competition and quantification.

I know a woman who told me she felt defeated over the lack of reach of her creative words. But is this defeat truly her own, or is it merely a false idea she can control how many units she is able to sell?

This is where I have no advice but I do have thoughts.

Instead of trying to fit the mold of expectations we think are quantifiable, we are often served by reminding ourselves of the actual questions that live within our art, our work, and our actions in the world ask.

Are we doing the work we feel called to do or replicating efforts on a quest for approval?

Our artistic existence is often defined by times of transition. We can use these times of loss and gain to question and reroot. To strengthen the resonance of our voice.

The personal voice. The honest voice.

Because this is the voice that steers the most fulfilling course and allows things like competition to fall away. Our conversation with ourselves, as Whyte puts it, enables us to realize that no matter who surrounds us and what we are inspired by, everything is an opportunity to sing our song.

Once we can do that, there is no counting or competition. There is a chorus. To sing our songs together is to allow our individual voices to shine in whatever way they are supposed to.

The richness of transitions reminds us of who we are. I hope that if you happen to be one of the many people I know going through one, painful or blissful or terrifying, you can tap its richness by journeying into this personal conversation. Remembering to ask ourselves what expectations we’ve been carrying that are not our own allows us to ground back down into a more honest conversation with ourselves and the world.

Wishing you all good things.

xo Jen