At 69, I have gone through many transitions in my life and I currently find myself in a new one. For the last three days I have been throwing out tons of files and articles related to my work and I have purged my shelves of almost all of my work-related books.
Whenever I do this, and I have done this a few times in the past, it is an early barometer of a looming change, even though I do not know the ultimate form the change will take. The process feels enriching rather than depleting or disconcerting.
I know that all transitions begin with an end — often followed by a muddled neutral zone before arriving at the new beginning.
Here are four 3-word lines that are informing me in the art of this process:
1. Not done yet.
2. What comes next?
3. I don’t know!
4. And that’s okay.
I will keep you posted as this unfolds, but in the interim, please know that I feel like Rembrandt in this wonderful self-portrait that I saw at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles in December.