From the moment I heard an essay comparing life to a series of trapeze swings, I’ve held onto that metaphor. In November, I’ll be co-leading a retreat with my colleague (and workshop mentor…) Ken Nelson dealing specifically with that topic.

Paula Harris, who conceived this event for women and hired us, came up with the theme of transition.

“Who isn’t in a transition?” we asked her when discussing who might attend. Whether it’s relationship (getting married/divorced/dating), home (moving/remodeling), career (new venues/markets/job), health (aging/pregnancy/wellness) family (empty nested/expecting/loss) or financial (retirement/investing), everyone I can think of is ending something and/or beginning something else in at least one category of their lives.

As I go through my own transitions this fall, I have to let go of the way I’ve been doing life/business and watch as the next trapeze bar is coming at me. The most significant one swinging my way has MEMOIR/AUTHOR writ large on its bar. That’s frightening because I haven’t ever grasped a bar like that one…yet. Its qualities are unknown to me, but it’s becoming more and more evident that my name is on it.

My fear showed up while I slept. I dreamt that I was trying to get from a train station to my next destination. I went to my phone to catch a VIA ride, but could NOT find the app on its screen for the life of me. And when I finally did, I couldn’t remember the address of where I needed to go. My subconscious is dealing with this life stage even when I’m asleep.

What we’ll do at the retreat is based on what Ken and I have done in our own lives to smoothly move through our own personal and professional transitions. I don’t want to give too much away, but if you join us, you will have the opportunity to work through your current transition with grace and clarity.

Here’s a quote from that reading on Fear of Transformation:

Sure the old trapeze-bar was real, and that new one coming towards me, I hope, that’s real, too. But the void in between? That’s just a scary, confusing, disorienting “nowhere” that must be gotten through as fast and as unconsciously as possible. What a waste! I have a sneaking suspicion that the transition zone is the only real thing, and the bars are illusions we dream up to avoid the void, where the real change, the real growth occurs for us.

Won’t you join me, Ken and Paula to fly through whatever transition you’re in?