BRIDGE

Bridge. Tower Bridge, Ponte Vecchio, the Golden Gate, the Millau Viaduct… Bridges are noteworthy landmarks. Why? They are architectural accomplishments par excellence, but bridges speak to us about a much more profound human experience. They speak of something that is essential if we are to become who we could be. Now, as the lights are going up, gifts are being bought, everyone is getting in the holiday mood as one year draws to a close and another approaches, we are facing a bridge.

Bridges are for crossing. That is the simple truth. Whether of rope, wood, metal, iron or glass, they are an entity that is neither side of the bank, but rather something that stretches between the two worlds, enabling our passage. There are many times in which life presents us with a bridge, an opportunity, a call, to cross over. There are obvious bridges like the birth of a child or the end of one’s work life, graduations, and weddings, and the like. On the other hand, this time of year is almost a global bridge in a sense, shared by virtually all cultures. With each such bridge, this one included, comes the experience of crossing over.

As you pause for a moment to consider the coming weeks or months ahead as one of your many bridges, notice how that feels in your body. Most people are afraid of Crossing Over. They fear the change, the feeling of being unsettled, displaced. They fear leaving behind what is Known, fear the ambiguity of the passage across and how long it will take to reach the other side. They fear not knowing exactly what the other side is. It is a treacherous business to Cross Over. But if we are to grow and not become stagnant and dead, we must summon up the courage to Cross Over, no matter the cost. In September we talked about the bodily or implicit knowing as that which plays an important role in our continuity as ourselves. Bridges, on the other hand, are the very opposite – they facilitate our evolution and growth. Crossing Over is what challenges, frightens, stretches and grows us into our ever-becoming selves.

Considering that Crossing Over is one of the fundamental truths of life, it is not surprising to find it a common theme in philosophical and psychological literature. The well-known German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is one of many to have addressed this phenomenon. In his work Thus Spake Zarathustra he speaks of two aspects of Crossing Over: Untergang (going-down) as a key component of Übergang (going-over). When we Cross Over we go over (which is obvious), but we also go down (perhaps not so obvious). In order to go across, our Crossing Over necessarily takes us into depths within ourselves, calling us to divest ourselves of old, encrusted aspects of who we were, allegiances which we swore, objects to which we clung, habits which we perpetuated. In Crossing Over we allow ourselves to be stripped bare, utterly bare. There in the depths we come undone. We become undone in order to be remade, because the Crossing itself remakes us. An important detail not to be missed is that, in a sense, the other side ‘appears’ because who we are is somebody new. The old you could never reach the other side, which is why the gap exists between one side and the other, between who you are now and who you could be. The reason why we emerge on the other side is because of who we have become. In a sense, it is our becoming that creates the other side as we Cross Over.

If all this sounds a bit too philosophical, let’s bring it back to right now, looking at the calendar, contemplating the year behind you and the months and year ahead. Who have you become this year? What have you left behind? What will you be leaving behind as you Cross Over into the Unknown of 2019? What are you afraid of? If you close your eyes and allow your imagination to speak, it may very well show you your bridge.* What I wish for all of us this holiday season is the courage to shed old skin, to Cross Over one step at a time, and live to see the marvels of the other side, whatever it may be. Happy 2019 to you all.

* Earlier this year I experienced a particular Crossing Over and my imagination was a key component in regularly showing me where I was along my path. It can be an invaluable way of tracking your journey as you Cross Over.

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