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August Musing from Rebecca Crichton: Liminal

When it comes to the arc of the year, August feels like the essence of the concept of Liminal. Deriving from the Latin — Limen — which means threshold, it refers to both physical spaces and mental and emotional states that are in-between.

August is both our month-long goodbye to and appreciation of whatever the summer has been, while heralding September and its start of the new year. Schools and programs, shorter days, cooling weather, and the approaching holiday season…

In his ground-breaking book, Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes, William Bridge calls the time between Endings and Beginnings the Neutral Zone. It is not a happy place for many. We no longer have the identity we had, or do what we did with the people we did it with. We don’t know what new beginnings might be waiting to be discovered or explored. It has been compared to the dark night of the soul.

Yet it is necessary to experience and accept this stage as an integral part of moving into what is coming next. Often, we have no idea what that might be.

When I retired from Boeing, I had no intention of finding another job, let alone a new career. I talk about the importance of a sense of purpose in my August essay. I didn’t know and couldn’t have imagined how clear my purpose would become. First, I had to stumble through the early years of this job to discover more fully what was mine to do.

 
And what I now know about getting older and the realities of aging is that we are always in transition. We are always on one threshold or another of doing and becoming. That applies to all the stages and phases of development. Aging is the stage in which we know that the various thresholds are leading us to new beginnings, even as we approach the completion of our lives.
 
We’ve been asked for feedback about Transforming Age+. Their online card game is designed to help people identify activities that lead to discovery, purpose, and connection. We hope you will explore this app, evaluate its relevance to your life, and give as much specific feedback as possible to its developers so they can create a useful tool for seniors. 
 

Norman Glassman, in our monthly feature, What We Learned, reflects in his unique style on his journey of learning to value and accept himself over the years.

August offers ongoing opportunities to connect and engage. We hope you’ll find some that will provide a threshold to learning. May this liminal month provide discovery, insight, and fun!
Rebecca

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