Are you feeling in between seasons, not ready to leave and not ready to begin? It’s not just the early spring or the time change, it’s the uncertainty of where we go from here after the changes we’ve experienced in the last twelve months. Something happened to me when I received my second shot of covid vaccine. Beside the momentous relief, there was a fretful stirring of the question, “Now what?”. 

I know the name of this place. I’ve been here before. Graduation. My father’s death. Promotions. Retirement. It’s called neutral zone and it is one of the stages in William Bridges’ model of transitions. Let me share it with you.

Bridges is an expert on change management. He recognized that change is situational and external. It can be measured with dates and deadlines. Transition is the internal process people go through to come to terms with changes, and it doesn’t follow a calendar. For example, you remember the date you had your first baby, but when did you realize you were actually a parent? We remember the date we were told to stay home, but when did you realize the full meaning of that order? 

Understanding transition strengthens hardiness by giving us guideposts of what lies behind us and what lies ahead. Here are the three stages to transition: endings, neutral zone, and new beginnings. 

Endings is the first stage when we move out of denial and recognize fully what we are letting go. Who knew that having a baby, a joyful time, is also filled with endings? Sleep, extra money, and the ease of simply walking out of the door are just a few of the things that go away with a young child.

The pandemic produced multitudes of personal losses. Universally, gone is the illusion that we are in control of anything but ourselves. And whatever our complaints were in 2019, there was an abundance of good we took for granted. 

Neutral Zone is the no-man’s-land between the old reality and the new. This stage is often underestimated and misunderstood. Misunderstood because we need neutral zones, we don’t want to skip over them. They are normal and there is nothing wrong with us when we find ourselves in them. Underestimated because it is in this space that we see the past more clearly and the possibilities for the time ahead. The neutral zone is the opportunity for creativity, renewal, and development. 

Here is Bridges’ description of this important stage: 

“The neutral zone is thus both a dangerous and an opportune place, and it is the very core of the transition process. It’s the place and time when the old habits that are no longer adaptive to the situation are extinguished and new, better-adapted patterns of habit begin to take shape. It is the winter in which the old-growth returns to the soil as decayed matter, while the next year’s growth begins to stir in the root underground. It is the night during which we are disengaged from yesterday’s concerns and prepared for tomorrow’s. It is the chaos in which the old form of things dissolves and from which the new form emerges. It is the seedbed of the new beginning that you seek.” 

We come through neutral zones with new identities, new understanding, new values, and new attitudes as we move to new beginnings. We regain our footing, our equilibrium, for a while. Around the corner, will be another change and a new transition. But this time, we know the names of the places where we find ourselves: Let Go. Explore. Begin Anew.   

Recognizing our place in the stages of transition affirms our experience is normal. Tracking our progress, step-by-step, provides encouragement to keep moving forward until we discover new beginnings. It’s not about the speed by which we transition, we can take our time. Beware, however, of getting stuck. 

I’m nearing the edge between the neutral zone and a new beginning, but I’m not yet ready to cross over. Is it a coincidence that it’s also early spring with melting snow and small sprouts in warm spaces in the garden? I’m okay if spring lasts a bit longer this year and showers us with more snow and rain. While I’m ready to feel safe, I’m not quite ready to step back into a new world. 

Where are you in the transition?