The In-Between: A Reflection Kit for Life Transitions, Change and New Beginnings

Some of the hardest parts of life are the bits that don't have a proper name. We understand endings and we understand beginnings, but what about the stretch in the middle?

Those periods of life transition can be surprisingly unsettling. You've left the job, but you don't know what comes next. The children need you differently now. You've moved house and it doesn't quite feel like home yet. A relationship has changed, or perhaps you've finished something significant and expected to feel triumphant but instead feel strangely flat.

Sometimes nothing dramatic has happened at all. You simply know that something is shifting.

That was the thinking behind The In-Between, one of the Life Beading reflection kits. I wanted to make something for those moments of change and uncertainty when you don't necessarily need advice or another list of goals.

You just need a little space to work out where you are.

Or perhaps not even try to work anything out.

Just to be there for a while.

Life transitions aren't emotionally tidy

One of the strangest things about change is that apparently contradictory emotions often sit side by side. You can be pleased something is over and still miss it, excited about a new beginning and frightened by it, or know you made the right decision and still wonder what on earth you've done.

There isn't necessarily anything to fix. Sometimes what we need most is simply permission to notice what is there.

That's why the three reflections in The In-Between aren't really about finding answers. They are about pausing long enough to hear yourself think.

Bead One: What are you proud of?

I love this question because endings can distort the way we look back. When something hasn't lasted in the way we hoped, it can be easy to see the whole chapter as a failure.

But a difficult ending does not erase what was good, meaningful or worthwhile.

A marriage may end, for example, but that doesn't turn the years before it into ruins. There may be children you raised together, homes you made, places you went, difficult times you got through, ordinary happy days, friendships, laughter and a whole life that was genuinely lived. It may not have had the longevity you hoped for, but that doesn't mean it amounted to nothing.

The same can be true when children leave home. The house may suddenly feel quieter and your role as a parent may shift, sometimes quite abruptly. But this is also a moment to look back at what you have given, built and shared: the years of care, the routines, the memories, the family life you helped create. The fact that things are changing does not make those years less valuable.

The same can be true of a job, a friendship, a project or any other part of life that has come to an end. Before rushing towards what comes next, this reflection asks you to look back with a little fairness. What did you build? What did you enjoy? What did you learn?

It says: come on - what are you proud of?

You choose a bead to represent that - something worth carrying forward, even if the chapter itself is closing.

Bead Two: Mixed emotions

The second reflection is about the feelings that don't fit neatly into boxes: sad and relieved, hopeful and uncertain, grateful and ready to move on, excited and frightened.

And this is where the idea of permission comes in.

I know “give yourself permission” can sound a bit like coaching speak. But there really is a shift when you stop merely telling yourself that a feeling is understandable and actually allow yourself to have it.

Not superficially. Properly.

Permission to be relieved, even if someone else is hurting. Permission to feel sad about something you chose. Permission to be excited about what comes next without feeling disloyal to what has gone before. Permission to admit that you are angry, frightened, hopeful, lonely - or all of those things at once.

We can spend a lot of energy policing our own emotional response: I shouldn’t feel like this. I ought to be happier. I’ve got no right to be upset.

This reflection asks you to put that aside for a moment. You do not have to tidy the feelings up or decide which one is the “right” one. You can simply let them be true.

Choosing a bead for that mixture can become a small act of permission in itself.

Bead Three: A promise to yourself

The final reflection turns towards what comes next, but very deliberately does not ask you for a grand plan.

When you are in the middle of a major life change, the idea of a five-year plan can feel utterly frightening. Sometimes even next month is too far away. You may be doing well simply to get through today.

Asking someone in that place to map out the next five years can feel a bit like asking someone standing in thic

k fog to describe the view from a hill they can't yet see.

So this reflection asks something smaller and, I think, kinder:

What promise do I want to make to myself as I move forward?

It might be a promise to take things one day at a time. To ask for help when you need it. To protect your time. To trust yourself a little more. To stay open to what comes next. Or simply to be gentle with yourself while life rearranges itself.

A promise is different from a plan. A plan asks you to know where you are going. A promise is about how you want to meet whatever comes.

You choose a bead for that promise - something small enough to hold onto when the bigger picture still feels impossible to see.

A bracelet for the space between

Once those three beads are chosen, you fill the spaces around them with whatever feels right to you. By the end, you haven't necessarily solved the future, and that's not really the point.

Instead, you have created something small and tangible that says: This is where I've been. This is how it feels. This is what I want to carry forward.

I think we sometimes underestimate the importance of marking these quieter thresholds in our lives. Not every turning point comes with a ceremony, and not every major life change is obvious from the outside.

Sometimes you have to create a moment of acknowledgement for yourself.

The In-Between is a guided bracelet-making and reflection kit for times of transition, uncertainty and new beginnings - a little ritual for standing between what was and whatever comes next.