There’s a quiet stretch of life that doesn’t get talked about much —
the space after something has ended, but before what’s next has begun.
It can happen after a big decision, a shift in work or relationships, or even just the quiet realization that you’ve outgrown a version of yourself.
You may have stepped away from something that once felt safe — a rhythm, a dream, a role, a way of being that no longer fits. You can’t quite return to how things were, but the path ahead isn’t yet clear either. And so you wait — in that still, echoing place where your old life has gone quiet and your new one hasn’t yet begun to speak.
It’s a lonely kind of waiting.
A space filled with both relief and grief, where you wonder who you are now, what you want, and who you might still become. You keep hoping the light will go on soon, to show you where to step next. But for now, you’re simply standing in the threshold — between endings and beginnings — and learning how to breathe there.
The Nature of the In-Between
Anthropologists call this kind of space liminal, from the Latin līmen, meaning “a threshold.” It’s the middle stage of transformation — where you are no longer what you were, but not yet what you will become.
It has its own quiet rhythm:
A Void of Certainty
The old structures, routines, and identities have loosened their hold, but new ones haven’t yet formed. That openness can feel confusing or even frightening — but it’s also where possibility lives.
Potential and Uncertainty
Because nothing is fixed, everything is possible. This can feel vast and dizzying, like standing in front of a blank canvas. The trick is not to fill it too fast — to let your next shape reveal itself naturally.
Rest and Recuperation
You’ve already done something brave: you’ve made a change. This is the time when your mind, heart, and spirit are catching up. Rest is not avoidance here — it’s integration.
How to Move Gently Through the In-Between
1. Choose Stillness Over Urgency
When everything feels uncertain, the instinct is to rush toward answers — to make the next plan, to fill the silence. But the in-between is not a problem to be solved; it’s a season to be lived.
Try to be present with what’s simple and grounding: a slow walk, a nourishing meal, a quiet evening by the window. These small rituals are how you build a bridge toward what’s next.
2. Reflect, Don’t Analyze
You closed a door — or maybe just a chapter — for a reason. This time isn’t for rewriting the past, but for understanding it gently.
Ask yourself: What did that season teach me? What parts of me feel ready to grow? What can I lovingly set down?
When you listen softly, your next direction often begins to whisper back.
3. Experiment Lightly
When you feel ready, follow your curiosity in small ways. Try something new without pressure — a hobby, a class, a book, a conversation. Tell yourself, this is just exploration. You don’t have to know yet where it leads.
A Closing Thought
The in-between may not sparkle. It may feel quiet and raw, as though you’ve been emptied out. But this is where the next version of you begins to take shape — not through force, but through gentle becoming.
You’ve already done the hardest part: stepping away from what no longer fits.
Now, give yourself time and the grace to keep believing — that light will return, that clarity will come, that everything is quietly working itself out.
You are amazing. You are brave.
And though you can’t yet see it, the new door is already waiting for you to arrive.
If you feel inspired by this blogpost I suggest you head over to rewilding our daily lives for more ideas on how to find balance in the rhythms of nature