William Bridges, Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes. Second edition, expanded and updated. De Capo Press, 2004.
Referenced in: Minister Self-Care
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
Bridges writes this long-time best seller out of his own experience in the 1970s where he left an enviable career as a respected professor and entered a period of great uncertainty about his life direction. During that period, he came upon the writings of a turn-of-the-twentieth-century anthropologist who spoke of the “rites of passage” among ancient tribal civilizations. Bridges came to believe these rites hold timeless and trans-cultural validity for all who experience significant life changes.
These rites involved three distinct phases: 1) an ending or letting go of what was, 2) a long and trying period of finding oneself in the wilderness, and 3) an entry into the new beginning with a reshaped identity and calling. He suggests that instead of life transitions following the predictable stages of developmental psychologists such as Erickson, Levinson et al., we are instead always in one or more of these three phases of transition. The key is in knowing how to discharge each of the three phases. He offers helpful insight into how to let go of and grieve what each new turn of our life must leave behind (endings), how to allow the new person to “gestate” during the sometimes lengthy and hopefully fruitful in-between time (neutral zone), and enter the new chapter of our lives with greater clarity (new beginnings).
Some sections are less readable and usable than others (e.g. his commentaries on obscure mythological works), but his practical advice is the gold standard in secular literature for navigating life transitions.
From the Publisher
Whether it is chosen or thrust upon you, change brings both opportunities and turmoil. Since first published 25 years ago, Transitions has helped hundreds of thousands of readers cope with these issues by providing an elegantly simple yet profoundly insightful roadmap of the transition process. With the understanding born of both personal and professional experience, William Bridges takes readers step by step through the three stages of any transition: The Ending, The Neutral Zone, and, in time, The New Beginning. Bridges explains how each stage can be understood and embraced, leading to meaningful and productive movement into a hopeful future. With a new introduction highlighting how the advice in the book continues to apply and is perhaps even more relevant today, and a new chapter devoted to change in the workplace, Transitions will remain the essential guide for coping with the one constant in life: change.
About the Author
Formerly a professor of English, William Bridges made a shift to the field of transitional management in the mid-1970s; out of his workshops has grown a long career of consulting, lecturing, and helping others through transitions. He lives with his wife in Mill Valley, California.
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