Dear friends,

September says CHANGE to me and I love it! It’s a time to move away from summer and welcome in the fall – its changing colors, the changing light as the days become shorter. In this beautiful time of year, I start to notice an inner call for greater focus on the state of my life and work.

This happens every year for me – partly due to my many years in school or working for universities and partly as a response to the natural rhythms of the changing season.

Did you know that change has its own stages? I learned this from reading William Bridges’s book called Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change.  He taught me that change (or transition) has three primary stages:

1. The End – something that may have been precious to you at one time has ended (i.e., you’ve moved to a new location)
2. The Neutral Zone – the stage where you’ve said goodbye to something, but you’re not yet ready to move into the New Beginning (i.e., you haven’t made friends in your new location yet, so you still rely almost exclusively on your friends from your previous location)
3. The New Beginning – you’ve now fully stepped into your new transition (i.e., you may still maintain your past friendships and you rely on local friends for most of your day-to-day connections and camaraderie)

In each stage, your internal and external growth and development may be enhanced when you understand the meaning and purpose of these stages. For me, this has certainly been true!

So, what kinds of changes do you see in your near future? Whatever is heading your way, I wish you an abundance of peace and tenderness every step of the way.

Warmest regards,

Mary

p.s. Guess what? In 2026, the NVC Academy celebrates its 20th anniversary! WOW! We plan on celebrating this milestone with some exciting upgrades and new collaborations. We look forward to telling you all about it when it’s time!