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In Part I of our 3-part series on our path towards Earth 2.0, we will be exploring the messy, complicated but critically important stage we’re currently in called Transition.
Check out my overview of today’s environment of change and the introduction to Earth 2.0 and the three critical stages of change here: Earth 2.0 – Humanity in Transition, Transformation and Evolution (HTTE)
Part I: Humanity in Transition – The Pendulum Swings
There is nothing permanent except change ~ Heraclitus, Greek Philosopher
Heraclitus, the ancient Greek Philosopher, at times mystic, revolutionary, and perhaps the first humanist and one of my favorite change philosophers is famous for wisely saying that “the only thing that is constant is change”.
In our present time, 2,500 years after Heraclitus observed that “all things are always in flux” we’re standing once again, in a historic and in many ways, evolutionary moment of change. A moment some scholars call the Great Transition, and which I simply call Transition – the first of three major stages of change we will undergo as a global earth collective in the next decades.
What is Transition?
Transition is defined as the change from one state to another or as motion and movement (change) between states of being. Symbolically (and for the visual learners like me), I describe Transition similar to the motion of a pendulum.
A simple pendulum is an object hung from a fixed point that swings or oscillates back and forth under the action of gravity. In simplified terms, depending on the force or strength of gravity (pull) and the action placed on it, the pendulum can swing back and forth wildly or, it can swing back and forth gently, as it eventually settles into an equilibrium point, at the center. The time it takes a pendulum to swing back to its original center point, is called the period.
Now overlay the idea of a pendulum onto our present reality (see my fun to make doodle below).
Imagine if you will, our Present, as the center of the pendulum and the forces of change as the Past on the left, and the Future on the right. All three points are representative of our current human understanding of time, even though the Present is the only solid point we physically experience.
As we focus on these three ideas, we can see that both the Past and the Future have a powerful influence in the Present.
The Past influences the present strongly as the blueprint-holder of our generational ideas, foundational principles and values, society and structures. So no surprise we’re pulled solidly, towards the ideas of the past.
But the Future also has a compelling magnetism. We’re seeing glimpses of something new in the horizon that seems intriguing, advantageous, and full of potential, so it’s no surprise we’re also pulled towards the ideas of the future.
Both the ideas of the Past and Future are simultaneously influencing the Present, creating a back and forth motion on the pendulum. But that back and forth can cause turbulence if it’s too strong or too extreme to either side, making the pendulum swing wildly.
And that’s exactly where we find ourselves today. Observing the chaotic nature of our current times, you can sense that we’re in the middle of a wild tug-of-war if you will, between these two ideas and states of being.
Both sides are competing for ownership of the present and pushing our collective for answers to some fundamental questions: do we continue as we have been, safe in the knowledge of how it’s always been, whether it was right or not? Do we move full steam ahead towards the future without consideration of the lessons of the past? Or is there a third option, a new creative potential in the middle, that perhaps combines the best of both worlds?
It’s this time of indecision, extremes and chaos and also great creative potential in the center I call Transition. And the time it will take us to find stability, gain clarity and cohesion as we move towards inevitable transformation, is what I call the Period of Transition.
The Period of Transition – Letting Go
Given its volatile nature, we can come to understand that Transition is NOT an easy, pretty stage of change (even though it can be). It’s not the caterpillar transforms into the beautiful butterfly stage of change (we’ll eventually get there). It’s the gritty, sometimes explosive, messy, turbulent, emotional stage of change right in the middle.
Transition is the incredibly challenging, stressful, chaotic state right in the middle of where your are and where you want to go. It’s the rebellious teenager starting to break free of the mold of child so she can build space for adulthood. It’s the young grasshopper starting to shed its old skin so it can grow a new one that fits better. It’s moving out of your old house and into a newer, better one – that stressful toggling back forth between the two. Transition is a natural and inevitable part of life, of change, growing, and evolving.
But if transition happens naturally all around us, why is it chaotic? It’s us, humans. We’re the victim and perpetrator in this story. It doesn’t have to be painful of course. Our little grasshopper doesn’t feel pain when it transitions out of its old skin because it knows that the cycle of growth demands a shedding, a letting go. It doesn’t block the path of change; it knows that it must let go of the blueprints that no longer serve it in order to grow and evolve. Nature organically understands the cyclic process of change and transition. But for humans, we don’t quite grasp it in that way (yet).
The transition process is a tremendous struggle for so many because we hold on and create attachments too tightly to what has been and is, even when we know deep down, at some point, we’ll have to change. Such is life and the cycles of change.
Certainly there is nothing wrong with attachments. We are human, we bond, we hold on to what gives us comfort, safety, to what we care for and love – our attachments keep us going. The challenge comes when the comfort and intensity of our attachments prevents us from recognizing when it’s for change, and when we refuse to let go and move forward because of our fear of change.
Strong Attachments and the Emotional Roller-Coaster
Psychologist, author and American spiritual teacher Ram Dass perfectly described the challenge of our attachments when he said: “a feeling of aversion or attachment to something is your clue that there’s work to be done.”
Many of the personal transitions and even organizational transitions I have led or personally experienced have been incredibly challenging in large part, because of both fierce attachments and great fear during times of change. Even when our people (myself included) were clearly unhappy, frustrated, and unable to thrive in the current state/blueprint, I/we held on intensely to our attachments, to the status quo, and were unwilling to give change a chance.
Over time I came to understand that we hold on tightest to what we feel defines us, provides identity, security, privilege, power, status, love. Like a warm blanket, it feels comfortable and safe to attach and then hold on for dear life. That’s why anything that threatens that safety or comfort creates great fear, and generates such strong emotion when it’s inevitably time to let go.
We can expect the same in our experience as a larger human collective during this stage, which will make Transition, the hardest and most emotional of all three stages.
For some, those who have been holding on fiercely, refusing to recognize or prepare for change, the process of transition may be akin to experiencing the 5-stages of grief: denial, anger, depression, bargaining and acceptance. In fact, you could say that for this group specifically, we’re already seeing them entering the stages of denial and anger.
For others, the transition process may be cathartic and reinvigorating, after generations of lack of recognition or forward movement.
And for a third group, the transition process may be a grand opportunity for this group to be of tremendous service to the collective. This group specifically has the tools need to help others transition through this difficult period of change. In later posts I will share the incredibly important role the third group, which I currently call the connectors and bridgers will play.
The Work Ahead – at the Center
It’s critically important to understand that we will all be impacted by this transitional time period upon us and we will all be touched by it’s movement through our lives in small ways and large ways, individually and as a collective.
The question is whether we pass through it consciously, ride the wild swings smartly and make our mark for the better, or ignore it, turn a blind eye and experience this time as chaotically as possible.
For those who choose to pass through it consciously, with eyes wide open, the work is in the center. The fluid, chaotic but also high potential center, our exciting, present moment, is where we find balance and equilibrium and where our mighty creative energies have the greatest power.
If we use this time wisely, our work in the center, together, can build bridges, it can heal past wounds, it can create new and original heart-based pathways between the past and the future for the benefit of all, especially future generations. Because just like equilibrium and balance lie at the center, so does the core of who we truly are.
This era of transition reminds us that as we let go, make space for something new and move forward to the next stage, we have an opportunity to reconnect and realign to the core of who we’ve always wanted to be, and that is the highest outcome of any transition – individual or collective. Because the next stage, Transformation, will demand that we answer for it.
Join me on later posts as I dive into the four critical areas I believe will be most impacted by transition and where we can begin to do the work ahead!
Critical Transitional Areas:
- The Evolving Individual and Collective
- The Past – A Reckoning with History
- Technology – Connection and Disconnection
- Earth – An Evolving Planet
Notes:
Image: Elena Mozhilo (Unsplash)
Pendulum Icon: Smashicon – Flaticon
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Heraclitus
