Hi Friend,

How do you feel about the "in-betweens" when you're unclear on you're next move in life? When I've been in the in-betweens, the unknowns, the doldrums of uncertainty, I despise it. 

It's like being in thick pea soup fog where I can almost make out the shapes of what's next in my career and life, but not enough to have clarity around what actions I can take. I just want to GO, but I feel like I have to sit still a while longer. 

Sometimes that uncertainty comes from too many options, like being on a hike with 10 paths emerging in a clearing and no map to tell you if one is right or wrong or better than another or what possible views might be found ahead. 

That's the thing about the in-between times - we're only able to make sense of them and see their value in hindsight, perhaps with some regret for not having explored a different path (often because we chose to listen to the expectations of others rather than our own inner compass). 

The good news is that if you're in the in-between now, you've probably had an in-between in the past that can lend some insight.

Think back to the previous doldrums.

How did you use that time to grow or rest or explore?

What do you wish you had done differently?

What led to the breakthrough of clarity?

Who helped you along the way?

What did that version of you in the past need that you can offer yourself now?

With all of that in mind, what will you do differently in this - or your next - doldrums? 

When I feel rudderless, I find that everyone else wants to give answers, but sometimes the hardest thing is to tune into your own inner longing and trust it. Some practices that supported me through previous in-betweens to do this have been:

🌟 Journaling (if you're not sure how to start, I highly recommend Suleika Jaouad's The Book of Alchemy)

🌟 Solo walks with no phone/tech (even short ones can be powerful)

🌟 Creating a vision board or free-flowing art (with just a few magazines and permission to follow your intuition, you may be surprised what jumps out!)

🌟 Coaching (I would say that, but genuinely, during my longest and deepest in-between, I was incredibly fortunate to be just starting my coaching certification and received so much incredible coaching from my peers that really illuminated self-knowledge and insights that have shaped huge life choices for the better.)

What else supports you in the in-between? What's one thing you'll do this week to be with the uncertainty?

You can also check out one of my earliest blogs inspired by a conversation with one of those peer coaches, Nitika Raj, In the Valley Collecting Seeds, which is also the reason why my blog is called "Collecting Seeds." 

I'll meet you in the fog,

Julia