In our careers, we have not two but three choices. Whether to accept and remain with our current status or reject the previous and strive to get a better career. Between these two decisions, we encounter another state, the change. Change is a word with broad connotations but in career choice, it is the most uncertain, ambiguous, and difficult stage. This “betwixt and between” stage is what comprises the concept of liminality. People enter this stage after they have shed their old status and want to try a change of career. It is derived from the Latin word ‘limen’, which means threshold, a condition that has to be crossed to enter something meaningful. As a person who has just entered this phase, you need to know certain facts about liminal space. Building on the seminal work of threshold concepts of Meyer and Land, here are five facts about liminal space.
1. A neutral phase
Popularly known as the neutral phase, this stage is anything but neutral. It is the time of contradictory emotions, confusion, impatience, frustration, anxiousness, and disorientation. It is a blank and empty space where a person feels like a mess. On a side note, everything we feel in this phase is necessary to make a powerful decision.
2. A powerful phase
If the liminal phase carries on destruction, it also provides the creation of a new self, reorientation of mind, and becoming a more true self. It is here, in this phase, where we have every possibility to adopt what we love. We feel free from all the shackles and there is a renewal of our potential by which we can redefine and reorient our career.
3. A connective phase
Just like our connective tissues make our body a whole by building meaningful connections, the liminal space connects us to our inner as well as outer environment. It is a stage where we have a clearer mind and enough time to involve in meaningful conversation with ourselves and other people who have a mind like ours.
4. A restorative phase
By building meaningful connections, we developed self-awareness. Self-awareness restores the energy we lost in our previous career stage. Because we did not like working at that time, we developed a lot of negative connotations that have nothing to do with our real selves. When we spend time alone with ourselves, we understand and restore our real potential to move forward.
5. A transformative phase
After going through all the good and bad emotions and developing a sound understanding of our interests and career and how we can be a better version of ourselves. We change our worldview and embark on a new journey that does not only bring us a new career but many opportunities that we can utilize in becoming the more meaningful and responsible person and to contribute to the betterment of others.
Conclusion
Career change is always hard. It is like giving up your identity in a hope that you will find a new one. Sometimes, it is the only decision that is best for us. This decision always lands you in the liminal space. Hence, whenever you find yourself in the liminal space, you need to feel every bit of emotion that comes your way. It is the only way to move forward and achieve what you buried inside your heart a long ago.
