Transitions

I took this picture a couple of evenings ago. I am more a sunrise person than sunset, most of the time, but an evening walk sounded good. And wow, the setting sun on the water is gorgeous. It is a time when you can really see the transition from day to night.

I was thinking about transitions this morning, and how we all go through many periods of transition in our lives. Why are some scarier than others? Day to night, night to day, season to season - generally these do not unsettle us. Childhood to adolescence to adulthood, also not typically scary. Jobless to employed, great. The other way around, not so much, unless it’s a choice to retire.

We find ourselves in a transitional period. It is not merely an interruption to our “usual” life but is reshaping our world. I think the reason we are so anxious right now is that we didn’t see it coming and we don’t know what to expect will come of it. It’s a transition from something known to something unknown.

It is not the first time in history we as a species have undergone such a transition, and it will not be the last. The sun will continue to rise and set. Seasons will continue to change, years will turn. Our world has been reshaped by disease, war, natural disasters, and forces of nature. We are again being reshaped.

Our choice is to rail against it or to accept it and actively engage in the reshaping. Perhaps if we think of it as we think of the cycle of sunrise/sunset, seasons, and years, it will be less scary. Get up tomorrow and see what it holds.