Transitions

Transitions - even nice ones - are hard. Just ask any mother who has ever given birth... the term "transition" is considered a stage of labour during which the cervix has dilated and the mother switches from breathing to get through the pain to pushing along WITH the pain. And yes, it's painful, very much so. And yet, it is also purposeful. 

Transitions happen frequently. The only constant, it's been said, is CHANGE - and some of us have more difficulty with it. Including me. 

For me, it's kind of like when a baby bird has been in the nest, a source of care, food, and comfort, growing the whole time, growing bigger, growing feathers, and all of a sudden, it comes time to leave that nest and embrace the skies. 

Scary! 

And yet ... it is exhilarating. The first realization that the air is holding up the bird's body, buoying up under its wings, must be a source of incredible joy. And yet, it is different - and carries responsibility for self-care, depending on its own resources rather than its mother's and father's care.

And so it is with any transition to a better way of living. The old life feels comfortable, but the new life has such a sense of adventure. And it carries a certain weight with it.

Why am I talking about this? Well, this morning I got to thinking about how my practice as a counselling therapist has grown and developed, how grateful I have been for my little nest in the heart of Old Charlottetown, and yet, how I've started to outgrow my little nook. After two incidents in my building which directly affected my sense of safety, and other incidents I heard about during that time involving others in my building, I began to look for other accommodations that were more secure, but that still offered accessibility to my most vulnerable clients.

This is the photo the landlord sent me
with the old furnishings in place.
And, after a couple of months of looking, I found a new place to call "office sweet office." Tomorrow, I will be sitting down and signing a lease for a new place that is over twice the size of my current space, and which has other amenities I could only dream about: access to a kitchen, use of a waiting room, wheelchair accessibility, and a really cool security system  Plus, WINDOWS!! (My plants will love that!) There's even a "break room" for other therapists and me to sit and support each other. I plan to use that to our mutual advantage!

The plan is for me to be ready for my clients to come and see me there starting on Canada Day (or the day after, probably.) I have so many things to do between now and then - some of them involve leaving the building I am in, and some of them involve preparing my new space for my clientele. It's an adventure, to be sure, and I am looking forward to it. 

My kitchen table has scattered pieces of paper on it. Some contain notes on the lease agreement, one has a floor plan of the office with my proposed designs on it, there are to-do lists, even decorations for the new spot. I'm imagining a welcoming space, with more seating for families and small groups, as well as (perhaps) even a coffee station, things I don't have room for now. 

Change - transition - is difficult. The last two and a half years has been an opportunity to grow my practice, to get to know people, to have my presence known and felt, and to see some amazing transformations in my clients' lives. And I hope to continue that ethic of care into my new spot, to let it become a reflection of who I am and why I do what I do, drawing in people with histories of trauma to find healing and hope, growth and peace in their inner lives, seeing transitions and transformations happen before my eyes. I love that. 

Is this a transition? Yes. Is it hard? Yes. But it's also an opportunity to grow, to use a safe place to create safety for my clients and for me. It's a natural, organic move into what I can foresee as a place to shine and to thrive in a community that is dedicated to helping people. All of the tenants in this new spot are counsellors. 

Stay tuned at my website, www.jggilliscounseling.com to see where this new place will be. It's actually only a few blocks from my current location - but the difference feels like dawn after a moonless night.


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