The Tai Chi of Transition

I've found myself in a strange moment of coincidental and mass changes going on around me.

At work, two co-workers have left for other positions, one is going out on maternity leave, we have an interim advisor starting, and offices are shifting. And that means hiring new staff and training, and all that that entails.

My aunt recently left her horrible employer for a new position. In another office on campus, they were suddenly told that their staff would be divided and the department was fracturing into two separate departments... all details pending. My former manager is leaving her employer for a sweet new job.

Babies born, couples forming and splitting up.

And yet I have remained the same. Sometimes I feel like a future man stashed in cryo-stasis or a cave man locked imprisoned in an ice block. Change brings growth, however good or bad we perceive the differences, and here I am, wanting to be a part of it. Other times I feel content that things are going well and that my life is relatively in order.

It reminds me of my tai chi lessons, in which one of the forms includes a movement called Palms Pass. With our hands outstretched, they pass each other in a fluid motion, like running your hand across the blades of wild grass. Movement, and I'm in that space between that is motionless.

It's been more of an observation and not a situation that makes me uncomfortable. More so, it reminds me of the randomness of life and how everything can transition seemingly at once. This includes all those wonderful surprises we receive that make us excited and test our faith and resolve.

Sometimes we control the change and sometimes it controls us. Either way, we can strive to be mindful of what the situation means, how we will cope, and what can be learned when palms pass.