How To Navigate Liminal Space (The In-Between Season of Life)
I’m fully convinced that one of the greatest skills we can learn is how to work with the tension that inevitably shows up in the in-between seasons of life.
That space between what was and what will be—between the person you've been and the person you're becoming.
The truth is, life is always inviting us to expand.
It's always guiding us toward something more satisfying, more aligned, more alive.
But here's what most of us don't realize.
Before you can step into that fuller experience, you have to become someone new first.
That's what the liminal space is.
It's the threshold that we cross over that allows the old to be released so the new can emerge.
And if you've ever been in that place, you know how disorienting it can feel.
It's like you're standing in a hallway with one door closed behind you and another that hasn't opened yet.
And you don't know when, or even if, another door will open.
And that can be hard.
So this week, I wanted to leave you with three quotes that I've held close to me—ones that have helped me move through that in-between space with a little more grace and a little less resistance.
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Traveler, there is no path. The path is made by walking. — Antonio Machado
There is something liberating about this. It means you don't have to have it all figured out before you take the next step. The in-between stops feeling so paralyzing when you realize the way forward is built by moving, not by waiting for certainty to arrive first.
Be crumbled. So wild flowers will come up where you are. You have been stony for too many years. Try something different. Surrender. — Rumi
The poet Rumi isn't asking you to fall apart. He's reminding you that softening is how new life gets in. The liminal space has a way of crumbling the hard parts of us that allowed us to survive, but will never allow us to fully live. We just have to be willing to let them go. One of my life's mottos is: try softer.
When it’s over, I want to say this: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. When its over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument. I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world. – Mary Oliver
This is the real invitation on the other side of the in-between. Not just to survive the tension, but to come through it more alive, more present, and more willing to be amazed. A version of who you can fully show up and fully enjoy their one, beautiful life.
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The in-between is uncomfortable, but it isn't wasted.
Every quote above is pointing to the same thing—that on the other side of this season is a version of you that's more alive, more free, and more fully yourself.
Don't stop leaning in.
As always, I'm rooting for you. We're in this together.
If I can help in any way, please don't hesitate to reach out.
-Caleb