How to think about reinvention
An ongoing exploration into the consideration of moving into the next space
I think a lot about how we evolve over time. We spend our early years consuming learning, through a wide variety of educational philosophies, but we also observe, mimic, try identities on, look for validation, and then eventually grow and mature into a new version of ourselves. The process endlessly repeats, but this often feels like a new revelation to me. I really believed early one (when I was less mature or evolved in my thinking?) that life in general was a straight line on the graph - up and to the right. A never-ending pinnacle to be reached. No hills, no valleys, definitely no dips - those were to be avoided, and if you got off the horse, you got back on again - and quickly.
How quaint that feels now - looking back. In experiencing life - the one that you have no control over - it is rife with hills, valleys, peaks of happiness, and valleys of desperation. The joy and contentment is to find the ability to stay on the ride through it all. This is difficult for me. Somehow I have stumbled into a roller coaster metaphor (!), and these are quite possibly my least favorite place on earth. I can’t stand that feeling in your stomach as you go over the hill and barrel down into the valley. Quite honestly, I think it is the speed. It feels out of my control, without my consent, and as if I’m hurtling to a new place that is unknown, and that feels uncomfortable. So, how to find a way to simply “ride the wave?” I haven’t quite mastered it yet. And so interesting, as a writer, to find yourself compelled by imagery of what makes you uncomfortable as a vehicle to express the nascent emotions around evolving, growing, and reinvention, and finding out what’s new on the other side.
Do you identify with these feelings? Fear, uncertainty, maybe a tiny bit of a thrill, a glimmer of excitement, and a lot of curiosity around what will happen next. This happens in our work, in our parenting, in our extended families, in our communities, in our own personal growth. I think it might happen more than we realize, but we aren’t always equipped with the right tools or aren’t in the right mindset to know it is happening. We may feel the feelings, but we don’t know what to do with them. Often we dismiss them instead of listening to them, asking them why they are there, and using them as part of our development, our ongoing evolution.
For those of you who have had what felt like changes that were life-altering (having children, losing a job, moving towns, starting a new endeavor, just to name a few), these feelings are familiar. I think they are at the heart of reinvention. They are the source for pushing you futher into becoming more of who you are, and more often than not, they feel not welcome if we aren’t ready to receive them and follow their direction. A consideration here is how to embrace them and nurture them, how to allow them to take up space, how to simply “be” with them. They will tell you how to move forward, if you allow them.
Reinvention is not forced, it comes unbidden, taught to you, by yourself, by your years of learning and thinking, and a more evolved you results. Despite the hills of exciting anticipation and the terrifying valleys, simply staying on the ride and hearing what you have to say to yourself results in a more refined and erudite you. I, too, am still working through this process, but I’m grateful to have a community of those curious enough to continue to explore and consider.